Pard Morrison: BLOOM

Brian Gross Fine Art is pleased to announce the opening of Pard Morrison: BLOOM on May 13, 2021.  Three new large-scale sculptures and paintings done in his signature materials of patinated aluminum will be featured.  The exhibition will also mark the gallery debut of three large paintings on linen.  Composed of criss-crossing bands and overlapping planes of saturated color, the works in BLOOM reveal Morrison’s continued exploration of complex geometric patterning and dynamic color combinations.  The exhibition will be on view through July 19, 2021. 

Combining painterly application with simplified structural forms, Pard Morrison’s works expand upon the minimalist tradition.  Morrison colors the aluminum forms of his sculptures in an enameling process he calls patination.  The smooth surfaces of these works belie the brushstrokes that are visible throughout his elaborate arrangements of color.  In contrast, Morrison’s paintings on linen are composed of a broad latticework grid of blue, pinks, yellows, whites, and black floating over a uniform background.  Their surfaces are full of supple textures created with each applied brushstroke, while the subtly irregular bars of color break with the precision demanded by formalist aesthetics. 

Morrison’s three freestanding sculptures in the exhibition each measure a commanding eight feet tall.  Bloom (2021), the namesake of the show, is a broad stele form wrapped in a loose diagonal grid of vivid, syncopated tonalities.  In Eternally Unalone (2021), Morrison has covered the surface of this square column in a tightly woven, vertical grid of wide multi-hued bars, its composition recalling a magnified image of woven cloth.  Morrison’s sculptures and paintings draw upon the conventions of reductive painting and geometric abstraction, balancing vibrant color and pattern with a contemplative feeling to create a unique visual experience. 

Pard Morrison was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado and received his BFA in sculpture from Colorado State University.  His paintings, sculptures, and commissions have been exhibited widely throughout the United States and can be found in the collections of The Lannan Foundation, Santa Fe, NM; Colorado State University Art Museum, Fort Collins, CO; Colorado Springs Fine Art Center, CO; University of Wyoming Art Museum, Laramie, WY; Columbus State University, Columbus, GA; University of Colorado, Denver, CO; The U.S. Embassy, The Hague, Netherlands; and The Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, Los Angeles, CA, among others.  In 2016, Morrison was featured in The Lannan Foundation’s exhibition, (INFRA) STRUCTURE: complex, below, and further on, and in 2020 was included in the exhibition, Harmonies in Color: Six Contemporary Perspectives, at the Louisiana Art and Science Museum. Morrison currently lives and works in Colorado Springs. This is his fifth solo exhibition with Brian Gross Fine Art.