Centerfold: Cheers to the Renaissance man: Desmond Morris's Sixties art under the microscope
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Desmond Morris already has a reputation for being something of a polymath. Zoologist, Man Watcher, gesture expert and even television celebrity - can the real Mr Morris please stand up? Knowledge and ability usually anger those who feel that one must be disciplined in a single subject alone and they will be even more distressed to learn of yet another Morris talent. Since his early childhood, Desmond Morris has painted and drawn consistently, exhibiting widely and frequently - even once with the great Spanish artist Joan Mir.
Morris began drawing after observing curious and commonplace organisms under his grandfather's microscope. Their spines and spindles, cells and structures he drew faithfully but they cropped up later in his paintings as fully fledged characters which he called 'biomorphs' - organisms generally unseen by the naked eye, but wholly engaging.
A cross between Sixties tribal art chic and acid cartoon, Morris's canvases are alive with boiling colours and a commendable ability to use empty space tactically. The works currently on show were created at much the same time that he was writing his international best-seller, The Naked Ape, and are looser and more colourful than the output from his two black-and-white periods which come just before and after. There is a sense of confidence and freedom in the work - related in part, to his biomorphic paintings but certainly less formulaic.
Whether these are great works of art or not is irrelevant. Many of the paintings have recognisable echoes in other works by great masters and Morris may be the first to admit them. Far more vital is the fact that Morris's paintings, like his writings, are conceived in a spirit of energy and supreme self-confidence. There is power and bluster here, bright colour, dream-like shapes and nightmarish visions, all the product of a brain which needs to experiment by way of expression. As the uni-discipline purists choke on this foray, one can only raise a glass.
Paintings from the Sixites by Desmond Morris at the Mayor Gallery, 22a Cork St, W1 (071-734 3558) to 8 Jul
(Photograph omitted)
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments