“The Greek Slave,” Hiram Powers, white marble.
NEW YORK CITY – Hirschl & Adler Modern will feature “John Morra: Recent Paintings” through this weekend.
Morra presents a personal variant on the tradition of realist still-life painting as his carefully composed and formal arrangements of ordinary objects — including mixers, bottles, jars, baking ingredients and books — take on an unexpected animation.
Morra’s expansive landscapes embrace plein air painting while offering highly charged compositions of his favorite places, including Majorca, Venice, Nantucket Island and New York City. His intimate and direct portraits are carefully rendered and stripped of sentimental overtones.
Morra draws his subjects from the natural world and his own surroundings. He does it the old-fashioned way — with models and props in a studio setting for his larger, more complex landscapes. And, using the Old Masters as benchmarks, or guides, Morra frequently references artists who have inspired his work — Vermeer, Chardin and Corot.
Morra was born in Meridian, Miss., in 1962 and was raised and educated in Southern California. With early intentions of becoming a painter, he earned his bachelor of arts degree in English at Westmount College, Santa Barbara, Calif.n in 1985 and his master of fine arts degree in 1991 from the New York Academy of Art Graduate School for Figurative Art.
After completing his graduate work, Morra also studied in New York with Jacob Collins, a pioneer of the contemporary realist movement. Since 1992, Morra has held various teaching positions at the New York Academy of Art (1992-94), Queens College (1994-95), the School of Visual Arts, New York (1996-98) and the Seattle Realist Academy in Washington (2000 to present). Morra has participated in group and solo exhibitions at galleries in Paris, San Francisco and San Diego, as well as at Hirschl & Adler in New York. He was also included in a show at the Arnot Art Museum, Elmira, N.Y. in 2001.
“John Morra: Recent Paintings” will remain on view through Saturday, October 26. Hirschl & Adler is open Tuesday through Friday, from 9:30 am to 5:15 pm, and Saturdays from 9:30 am to 4:45 pm.
For information, 212-535-8810 or email modern @hirschlandadler.com. The exhibition may be viewed at www.hirschlandadler.com.
