““When I was a student, I saw a Carl Andre sculpture and a Clyfford Still painting for the first time. Still’s fragmented color surfaces against Andre’s rigorously ordered, flattened sculpture had a presence and feeling of just being there; somehow provisional and timeless. It took me a long time to realize how much that long-ago experience of Andre and Still gave form to my ideas and motivation to make abstract art.
I’m interested in the poetry of color, vestiges of geometry and gesture, and emotive austerity tempered by the history of abstract art and the nuances of its formal language. Digital and dimensional elements occur periodically. Titles often signal references to the mysteries of cosmology and antiquity.”
Michael Morrill
MFA, School of Art, Yale University
BFA, School of Art and Design, Alfred University
Trained as a sculptor, Michael Morrill works across disciplines in painting, mixed media, and collaborative installations. His work has been exhibited in the United States and Europe and is represented in private and corporate collections.
CV :
SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
2017 Déjà vu Blue, Seraphin Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2012 Dawn and Dusk, Seraphin Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2011 Pattern and Prayers, String Room Gallery, Wells College, Aurora, NY
2007 In Series, Concept Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
2005 Shadow Work, Laura Mesaros Gallery, University of West Virginia, Morgantown, WV
1999 New Paintings, Chatham University Art Gallery, Chatham University, Pittsburgh, PA
1994 New Paintings, Concept Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
1991 New Paintings, Concept Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
1989 Michael Morrill, Concept Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
1988 New Paintings from the Janus Series, Concept Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
1986 Janus Series, Jus de Pomme Gallery, New York, NY
1985 Michael Morrill, Jus de Pomme Gallery, New York, NY
1984 Michael Morrill, Pittsburgh Plan for Art, Pittsburgh, PA
1983 Kaum-Umbu, Mattress Factory: Museum of Contemporary Art, Pittsburgh, PA
1982 Ixion, Entrance Gallery, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA
1981 Sculpture, Hewlett Gallery, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
1980 Michael Morrill, Siegfred Gallery, Ohio University, Athens, OH
TWO PERSON EXHIBITIONS:
2023 Morrill | Kofmehl: 30, Concept Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
2014 Depth of Field: Chris Smith & Michael Morrill, Seraphin Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2012 Merrell & Morrill: Parallel Lights, Westmoreland Museum of Art, Greensburg, PA
2001 Judy Ledgerwood & Michael Morrill, Concept Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
1979 Larissa Osby & Michael Morrill, Pittsburgh Plan for Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
1977 Marinaro & Morrill, UP Gallery, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
2024
Tracing an Outline Around a Man’s Shadow: Curated by Nina Friedman, Tomayko Foundation, Pittsburgh, PA
Spring for Abstraction: Concept Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
Neither Here Nor There: University of Pittsburgh Studio Arts Faculty Exhibition, Curated by Ellen Larson, Brew House
Arts, Pittsburgh, PA
2022
50th Anniversary Exhibition, Concept Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
2020
Printed, Photocentric Gallery, Cleveland, OH
2018
Design, Flow, Interpret, Repeat: Contemporary Abstractions, Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua, NY
Straights & Curves, Seraphin Gallery at the Yard, Philadelphia, PA
2015
Reverberations: University of Pittsburgh Studio Arts Faculty Exhibition, Curated by Vicky Clark, University Art Gallery,
Frick Fine Arts Building, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
All About Color and Geometry: Selections from the Diana and Peter Jannetta Gift of Art, Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Greensburg, PA
Uncrated: The Hidden Lives of Artworks, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA
2013
From Beckmann to Warhol: Art of the 20th and 21st Centuries, The Bayer Collection, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Germany
Dialogues and Correspondence, Seraphin Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2012
Homage to the Barnes, Seraphin Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2009
How Art Gets Made, Concept Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
2006
AIR 10 Year Celebration Exhibition Series, Artists Image Resource, Pittsburgh, PA
2004
National Prize Show, Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, MA
19th Annual International Exhibition, School of Visual and Performing Arts, University of Texas at Tyler, TX
2003
Annual Archives Exhibition, Artists Image Resource, Pittsburgh, PA
Prints from the A.I.R. Archives, California University of Pennsylvania, California, PA
2002
2002 Projects Exhibition, Artists Image Resource, Foreland Street Studio, Pittsburgh, PA
Photographs by Artists: Made for a Varity of Purposes, Artists Image Resource, Foreland Street Studio, Pittsburgh, PA
2000
Exquisite Surfaces, Concept Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
2000
8-Hour Drawings: Part II, Allegheny College, Meadville, PA
1998
Artist as Curator, Concept Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
1997
Process: Documentation and Fragments from the Mattress Factory Archives, Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh, PA
25th Anniversary Exhibition, Concept Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
1996
Dugas, Morrill, Sokol: Works on Paper, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Pittsburgh, PA
1993
Degrees of Abstraction: Eight Pittsburgh Artists, Three Rivers Arts Festival, Pittsburgh, PA
1992
Five Artists at the Airport: Insights into Public Art, Wood Street Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
1990
Perspectives from Pennsylvania: Site-Works, Carnegie Mellon University Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh in Chicago, Deson Saunders Gallery, Chicago, IL
In Search of Drawing, UP Gallery, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
1988
Ten Americans, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA
1987
New Attitudes in Pennsylvania Abstraction, Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Loretto, PA
Contemporary Paintings from the Permanent Collection, CMA Art, Pittsburgh, PA
1986
Members Exhibition, Jus de Pomme Gallery, New York, NY
1984
Members Exhibition, Pittsburgh Plan for Art, Pittsburgh, PA
1983
Summer Invitational Exhibition, Governor's Home, Harrisburg, PA
1981
One Foot Forward, Associated Artists of Pittsburgh Annual Small Exhibition, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Pittsburgh, PA
Small Works National '81, Zaner Gallery, Rochester, NY
Pittsburgh Society of Sculptors Annual Open Exhibition, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Pittsburgh, PA
Members Exhibition, Pittsburgh Plan for Art, Pittsburgh, PA
1980
Site-Work: Sculpture Installation and Discussion, National Invitational, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA
1979
Associated Artists of Pittsburgh 88th Annual Exhibition, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA
1977
Westmoreland County Invitational, Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Greensburg, PA
1976
Three by Three, Invitational, Jorgenson Gallery, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT
1975
Open Exhibition, 112 Green Street Gallery, New York, NY
Sculpture and Drawings, 112 Greene Street Gallery, New York, NY
MFA Thesis Exhibition, Art and Architecture Gallery, Yale University, New Haven, CT
GROUP EXHIBITION EVENTS:
2020
March 1, Microtonal Music Festival Beyond 2020, Video projection of TWELVE with a live performance of El Canto de los Acantilados for two microtonal guitars, composed by Agustín Castilla-Ávila, Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh PA
2018
April 26-29, If so, What? Art and Design Art Fair, Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA, presented by Seraphin Gallery, Philadelphia PA
2014
February 15th: Celebrating the 450th Anniversary of The Birth of Galileo through Visual Arts and Live Music, University Art Gallery, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
1992
Saturday Sampler, "A Celebration of the Arts," University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
FACULTY EXHIBITIONS: UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH
2011, 2008, 2006, 2003, 2001, 1998, 1996: University Art Gallery, Frick Fine Arts Building, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
1992, 1989, 1987, 1985, 1982, 1980, 1978, 1976: UP Gallery, 3816 Forbes Ave., University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
COLLECTIONS:
Alcoa Corporation, Pittsburgh, PA
Allegheny General Hospital Surgical Center, Pittsburgh, PA
Ariba Inc., Pittsburgh, PA, Brussels, Belgium
Artists Image Resource Print Archives, Pittsburgh, PA
Bayer AG Leverkusen, Germany
Buchanan Ingersoll Attorneys, Pittsburgh, PA & Fort Lauderdale, FL
Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA
Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua, NY
Egress Press Print Archives, Edinboro, PA
Frank Golba and Associates, Pittsburgh, PA
Grable Foundation, Pittsburgh, PA
J. J. Gumberg Co., Pittsburgh, PA
Mattress Factory: Museum of Contemporary Art, Pittsburgh, PA
BNY Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA, Boston, MA, Moscow, Russia
Perlow Investments, Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh High Technology Council, Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh International Airport, Pittsburgh, PA
PNC Bank, Pittsburgh, PA
Senator John Heinz History Center and Smithsonian Affiliate, Pittsburgh, PA
Soffer Company, Pittsburgh, PA
Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Loretto, PA
University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Greensburg, PA
Private Collections:
Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia,
Pittsburgh, San Antonio, San Francisco, Washington D.C.
COMMISSION:
1989-92 Greater Pittsburgh International Airport Midfield Terminal Project, Allegheny County, PA
CATALOGUES:
MORRILL | KOFMEHL: 30, Concept Art Gallery & Kofmehl Studio. Essay by Eric Shiner, President of Powerhouse Arts, Brooklyn NY. Curated and Introduction by Alison Oehler, Director Concept Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA, ©️ 2023
The Private Eye In Public Art: by Joyce Pomeroy Schwartz, Forward by Eleanor Heartney, First published in 2023 by ORO Editions, Publishers of Architecture, Art, and Design, Gordon Goff, publisher. ©️ 2023
Printed: How artists might use photographic imaging beyond traditional photographic print, Curated and Text by Michael Loderstedt and Robert Beckman, PhotoCentric Gallery, Cleveland, OH, © 2020
Reverberations: Faculty exhibition Department of Studio Arts, University of Pittsburgh, curated and text by Vicky A Clark, © 2015
SHADOWwork: Paintings and Prints, Michael Morrill, © 2015 (Self-Published)
From Beckmann to Warhol: Art of the 20th and 21st Centuries, The Bayer Collection, Bettina Ruhrberg, © 2013
Michael Morrill Dawn and Dusk: Essay by William V. Ganis, Seraphin Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, © 2012,
Degrees of Abstraction: Eight Pittsburgh Artists, curated and text by Vicky A. Clark,Three Rivers Arts Festival, © 1993
Five Artists at the Airport: Insights into Public Art, curated and text by Elaine King, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, © 1992
Mattress Factory: Installation and Performance 1982-1989, Mattress Factory, © 1991
Ten Americans: Curated and text by John Caldwell, Carnegie Museum of Art, © 1988
GRANTS & AWARDS:
2016
Provost’s Special Initiative Grant for Innovative Scholarship in the Humanities and Creative Arts,
University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
2013
Faculty Research Scholarship Program Grant, PI and co-recipient for the Frick Fine Arts Building
Rotunda Site Specific, Multi-Media Installation Project, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
2003
Special Opportunity Stipend (SOS) PA Council on the Arts, Harrisburg, PA
2002
Type II Research Grant, Digitally Enhanced Printmaking: Interpreting Source Materials for Abstract Painting, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
1996
Artist Resident Grant, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
1989
Commission Proposal Award, Department of Aviation, Allegheny County, PA
1983
Central Research Development Fund Grant, Structural and Interpretive Correlations in Sculpture,
Drawing and Painting, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
1981
Individual Artists' Fellowship, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Harrisburg, PA
1980
Visiting Artist Grant, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA
1977
Type II Research Grant, Context as Content in Environmental Sculpture, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
1975
Ely Harwood Schless Memorial Prize, Yale University, New Haven, CT
Ford Foundation Grant, Yale University, New Haven, CT
Bibliography:
2024
Pria Dahiya, Tracing an Outline Around a Man’s Shadow, Petrichor Arts Magazine, September 5, Pittsburgh, PA
2017
Lindsay Covington, In Depth, Seraphin Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2012
William V. Ganis, Dawn & Dusk Exhibition Catalogue Essay, Seraphin Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Sabina Tichindeleanu, Art Grind, A Forum for Critical Commentary on Art and Culture, A New Year at Seraphin Gallery
Victoria Donohoe, Galileo served as this Artist’s Muse, The Philadelphia Inquirer wknd, Jan. 27, p. 20
2011
Arthur Whitman, Painter Exhibits “Pattern and Prayers”, Tomkins Weekly, Vol. 5, No. 28, p. 10
2007
Mary Thomas, Glass Shone on the region’s arts scene this year, Post-Gazette NOW
2004
Randy Phillis, Editor, Pinyon National Journal of Poetry, Prose, and Art, Issue 13, Mesa State College, CO, Shadow Series I, II, III, pp. 50, 88, 107, Copyright 2004.
2002
Kurt Shaw, Artistic Reproduction, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Ticket, Dec. 27, p. 9
Eve Modzelewski, Vibrant artwork is warm respite from the cold, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jan. 21, p. C-10
2001
Mary Jean Kenton, Balancing Tradition+Innovation: Pittsburgh, Sculpture Magazine, Vol. 20, No. 5
Kurt Shaw, Abstract Action, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Ticket, Nov. 30, p. 11
2000
Mike May, Artists Present, Pittsburgh Magazine, Annual City Guide Issue, 2000-1, p. 96
Graham Shearing, Surface before Content, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, August 6, Style
1998
Donald Miller, Artists Serve as Curators in Fresh Exhibit, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 28, p. C-9
Mary Thomas, Pitt Faculty Show Shows Refreshing Breadth of Style, Expression, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Arts & Entertainment, February 14, p. 10
1996
Graham Shearing, Faculty Show Helps Image of Academics, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Feb. 23 Leisure, p. 3
1993
Kate Hensler, Site: Pittsburgh International Airport, Sculpture, July-August, p. 18
Mary Jean Kenton, Lines, Planes, Colors, and Forms, New Art Examiner, April, p. 23
1992
Happy Landings, ARTnews, November, p. 46
1991
Donald Miller, At The Galleries, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 30, p.10
Donald Miller, Sculpting Paintings, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Weekend, November 15, p. 2
1990
Michael Odom, Michael Morrill, New Art Examiner, April, p. 48
Donald Miller, Abstract views at CMU, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Bill Homisak, Site-Works: Sorry, Wrong Number, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, September 22, p. B-2
Donald Miller, City Artists in UP Show, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 17, p. 22
1989
Bill Homisak, Morrill's Handsome Homage to the Square, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, October 13, p. D-3
Mary Jean Kenton, Pittsburgh’s Power Triad, New Art Examiner, January 1989
1988
Harry Schwalb, Notes and Comments-John Caldwell's Ten Americans, Pittsburgh Magazine, May, p. 34
Patricia Lowry, Carnegie Exhibit Revives Art of Abstraction, The Pittsburgh Press, February 23
Donald Miller, Prospering Gallery Embraces Artist Destined for Success, Too, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 6
Bill Homisak, When Teacher is also Artist, Greensburg Tribune-Review, February 5
Donald Miller, The Art of Abstraction from Ten Americans, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 29
Wendy Nardi, New Faces, In Pittsburgh, January 20-26, Volume 4 Number 23, 1988
1987
Harry Schwalb, Judge Not, Pittsburgh Magazine, March, p. 37
1986
Kay Larson, New York Magazine, November, p.10
Demetria Daniels and Andy Sichel, Works by Morrill at Jus de Pomme, Downtown Magazine, October 22, 1986
Aaron Sheon, Doomed to Provincialism?, In Pittsburgh, February 9
1984
John White, Stamps of Approval: Pittsburgh Curators, Dialogue Art Journal, September, p. 33
Elaine King, New Art Examiner, November, p.18
Harry Schwalb, Long Time No See, Pittsburgh Magazine, September, p. 33
Donald Miller, Artist of Abstractions, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 19
1983
Ann Daly, The Pittsburgh Press, September 15
Donald Miller, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September, 17
Harry Schwalb, "Gallerymania", Pittsburgh Magazine, July, p. 24-25
Mattress Factory Shows Installation, Market Square, September 14, 1983, p. 10.