Artist 12: Robert Morris

Robert Morris, born in 1931, is seen as one of the central figures of minimalism.  His work is characteristic of simple geometric shapes, he means to strip away all metaphorical association and focus totally on the interaction between the artwork and the viewer.  Morris was at the front of the well know movements, process art and land art.  In 1948 Morris began his education in Kansas then transferred to the California School of Fine Art in 19551.  After only a semester in California he joined the United States Army Corps of Engineers.  In 1953 he then enrolled in school at Reed College in Oregon.  After two years in Oregon studying psychology and philosophy he returned to California to paint.  During his time in school and then after school Morris painted large abstract pieces.  Through his work he developed an interest in the process, but later gave up painting all together because he did not feel the connect between the final work and the process that it took to get there.  In 1960 Morris moved to New York and enrolled at Hunter College where he studied art history.  While there he began to create plywood sculptures, these gave him the satisfaction that he was missing during his years painting.  In 1966 he published many articles in which Morris rejects the uniqueness of the art object and emphasized the artwork’s relationship to the viewer.  He began to work with commonplace materials to deconstruct conventional categories of the art object.  He has left his mark on the art world and will continued to do so as he continues to show his works worldwide.