Keith Morrison’s art explore imagery of a wide global range, typically as a continuous circle of ideas from Europe, the Americas (north and south), to Africa and the Middle East. Within a conventional language of painting, he creates visual paradoxes of space, prismatic planar shifts, panoramas, oblique angles, perspective oddities and an elusive reality. His art involves many themes, such as trans-continental evolution; cross-cultural fertilization of religion; mysticism and sexuality versus spirituality; global continuum of African and mezzo-American myths and legends as add mixture to Western civilization; urban anthropology; and socio-cultural dysfunction and destruction. Sometimes witty, sometimes poignant, sometimes fatalistic and sometimes perverse, his art, nevertheless, always posits moral challenge. His images range from the horrific to the sublime. Seen through the body of his work is a personal lexicon of venues and icons, which form the unmistakable cosmogony of life and death in the world according to Keith Morrison.”
— Peter Wilson, 2014
Keith Anthony Morrison is a Jamaican painter, printmaker, educator, art critic, art curator and university administrator. He represented Jamaica in the 2001, Venice Biennale, the world’s most famous and prestigious art exhibition, the only time Jamaica has been represented there. He also represented Jamaica in the Caribbean Biennale in Santo Domingo, in 1994. He curated the art exhibition, Ceremony in Space and Time and sound, an exhibition of 14 Jamaican artists living in Jamaica and abroad, for the National Art of Jamaica, in Kingston in 2008. He is the subject of the biography, Keith Morrison, by Dr. Rene Ater, 2004; His paintings form the foundation for an anthology by scholars from the Caribbean, Latin American, US, and the UK, titled, African Diaspora in the Cultures of Latin America, the Caribbean and the United States, 2014. His painting is the iconic image on the cover of the book, Senghorian Meditations: The Onthology of Afro-Diasporic Aesthetics, by Professor Marc Mae Bekele, to be published by L’Harmattan Press, Paris, France, March 2015. Morrison has exhibited worldwide, including in the Venice Biennale, the Museum of Modern Monterrey, Mexico, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Smithsonian Institution and the deYoung Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Institution, and exhibitions in countries such as the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Yugoslavia, Poland, Egypt, Lebanon, Liberia, Japan, Brazil, Cuba, India, and China. In the USA he has had solo exhibitions in cities such as New York, Washington, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Boston. Morrison has had a distinguished career as an art critic, having published in many books, periodicals, newspapers, and museum catalogues. He is also an international art curator. He is author of the book, Art in Washington and Its African-American Presence, 1940 to 1970. He has curated art exhibitions in Cuba, the USA and Jamaica. In 2008 he represented the USA as critic to the Shanghai Biennale. He was Fulbright Senior Scholar to China the following year. Keith Morrison was the first African-American to be appointed academic dean of art in a predominantly white American university, a position he has been appointed to 5 times in different institutions. Morrison served as Dean of Tyler School of Art; Temple University, Philadelphia; Dean for the College of Creative Arts, San Francisco State University; Dean for Academic Affairs, San Francisco Art Institute, and Dean for the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Maryland, College Park, where he was previously Professor and Chair of the Art Department. He was a Distinguished Visiting Artist/Scholar at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Previously he was Associate Dean and Associate Professor, University of Illinois, Chicago; Art Department Chair, DePaul University; and Assistant Professor of Art at Fisk University. More information may be found elsewhere on the web, including museum and university websites, and at www.keithmorrison.com
Keith Morrison is an internationally known painter, print-maker, art critic, curator, art consultant, educator and administrator. He is Professor Emeritus and former Dean of the Tyler School of Art, Temple University. He was previously academic dean at: College of Creative Arts San Francisco State University; College of Arts and Humanities, University of Maryland College Park; and Dean for Academic Affairs, San Francisco Art Institute.
Birth: Linstead, Jamaica, May 20, 1942.
Education
M.F.A., (plus Art Education) Art Institute of Chicago, 1965
B.F.A., Art Institute of Chicago, 1963
Also studied at: University of Chicago; DePaul University; Loyola University
Calabar High School, Jamaica.
Academic Appointments:
Professor of Art, Temple University, 2008 –
Visiting Professor, Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, China, 2008
Dean Tyler School of Art, Temple University, 2005-2008
Dean, College of Creative Arts, San Francisco State University, Jan. 1997-2005
Dean, College of Arts and Humanities, University of Maryland, College Park, July 1996 to Jan. 1997
Dean, College of Creative Arts, San Francisco State University, June.1994 to June 1996.
Dean, San Francisco Art Institute, Jan., 1993- June 1994
Chairman, Department of Art, Univ. of Maryland, 1987-1992
King-Chavez Distinguished Visiting Scholar, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Jan.-Feb., 1990
Graduate Lecturer: Maryland Institute of Art, 1989-90
Art Studio Coordinator, Dept. of Art, University of Maryland, College Park, 1987.
Professor of Art, University of Maryland, 1979-present.
Associate Professor of Art, University of Illinois, Chicago, 1971-79.
Associate Dean, College of Architecture and Art, University of Illinois, Chicago, 1974-78.
Chairman and Associate Professor of Art, DePaul University, Chicago, 1969-71.
Assistant Professor of Art, Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee, 1967-68.
Instructor of Art, Public School System, Gary, Indiana
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Passages: Keith Morrison, 1999-2019
By Judith Stein, Katzen Museum, Washington D.C., 2019
Senghorian Meditations: The Onthology of Afro-Diasporic Aesthetics
By Marc Mae Bekele, L’Harmattan Press, Paris, France, March 2015
African Diaspora in the Cultures of Latin America, the Caribbean, and the United States
Persephone Braham, Editor
University of Delaware Press., December, 2014
The artists Eye (review of the Curator’s Eye III, Observer, Jamaica, June, 2008
“The Art of Keith Morrison, Franklin Knight, Observer, Jamaica, October, 2011
“Magical Visions,” WHYY-TV, March 27, 2012
Chen-Young, Leisha: “An Artistic Eye,” Jamaica Observer, June 15, 2008
Keith Morrison, monograph by Renee Ater, Pomegranate Press, CA, 2005
Driskell, David C: The Other Side of Color
San Francisco: Pomegranate Press, 2001
Amidon, Catherine: “Migration, Transition, and Change”
New York: Venice Biennial, 2001
Morrison, Keith. “Preserving Whose Mortality or Immortality?” p. 161-164
Mortality/Immortality?: The Legacy of 20th Century Art. Miguel Angel Corzo, editor
Los Angeles: The Getty Conservation Institute, 1999
Bettelheim, Judith A. “Three Transnational Artists: Jose Bedia, Eduoard Duval-Carrié and Keith Morrison.” p. 43-48
The International Review of African American Art, 1998, Vol. 15 No. 3
Malpert, Roger, History of African American Art, Oxford University Press, 1998
Burgard, Timothy. Art and Ethnography
San Francisco: M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, 1998
Poupeye, Veerle. Caribbean Art
New York: Thames and Hudson, 1998
Patton, Sharon F. African American Art
Oxford University Press, 1998
Powell, Richard. Black Art and Culture in the Twentieth Century
London: Thames and Hudson, 1997
Baker, Kenneth. “Keith Morrison’s Art is the Stuff of Dreams”. p. E1
San Francisco Chronicle, April 13, 1996
Berkson, Bill. “Chaos Dancer”
San Francisco: Bomani Gallery, 1996
Bettelheim, Judith. “A Transnational Artist with a Jamaica Soul”
African Arts, 1996
Art in Chicago, 1945-95
Chicago: Museum of Contemporary Art, 1996
Britton, Crystal A. African American Art: The Long Struggle
New York: Smithmark, 1996
Lewis, Samella. Caribbean Visions
Richmond, VA: Art Services International, 1995
Art News “Myth, Magic, and the Mainstream”
pg. 112, Summer 1995
Risatti, Howard. “Keith Morrison at Brody Gallery.” p. 108
Artforum, January 1992
Perry, Regina A. Free Within Ourselves
Washington, DC: National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1992
Mereweather, Charles: Myth and Magic, In the Americas: The Eighties
Monterrey: Museum of Modern Art, 1991
Lippard, Lucy. Mixed Blessings : New Art in a Multicultural America
New York: Pantheon Books, 1990
Smith, Roberta. “The Galleries of TriBeCa and What’s in Them.” p. C22
The New York Times, April 27, 1990
Driskell, David C. “Keith Morrison: Interpreter of the Mythic Dream”
New York: Alternative Museum, 1990
Powell, Richard. “Anansi Revisited: Keith Morrison’s New Work.”
New York: Alternative Museum, 1990
Francis, Irma Talabi. “Keith Morrison: Spiritual Obsession.”
Eyewash, November 1990
Forgey, Benjamin. “Urban Expressions: Contemporary Art Opens at Anacostia.” p. G7
The Washington Post, May 16, 1987
Bontemps, Arna Alexander: Choosing
Washington DC: Museum Press, 1985,.
Laing, E.K: “Why it’s important to bring black artists out of cultural isolation”
The Christian Science Monitor, P. 29, November 20, 1985
Richard, Paul. “Black Artists: Their Pride & Problems: Keith Morrison.”
The Washington Post, March 15, 19
East/West: Contemporary American Art
Los Angeles: California Afro-American Museum, 1985.
Livingston, Jane: Ten + Ten + Ten
Washington, D.C.: Corcoran Gallery of Art, 1984
PUBLICATIONS
The Much-Vaunted American Melting Pot, Cracks and All
Jillian Steinhauer, The New York Times, 2022
[Cover, 2022] The Sociology of Slavery by Orlando Patterson
Polity Press, UK
Soul of a Nation Reader, writing by and about Black American artists, 1960-1980
edited by Mark Godfrey and Allie Brown
“Mortality, Immortality”, republication
Getty Museum, LA
“David Driskell, the Fisk Years”
Rizzoli/Portland Museum of Art
“David Driskell: The Fisk Years,” Portland Museum of Art, 2021
“Ralph Arnold and a Tale of Two Chicagos”
The Many Hats of Ralph Arnold, pp 83-96
Museum of Contemporary Photography
Columbia College, Chicago 2018
“The Abstract Originality of Norman Lewis”
Brandywine Art Magazine, Vol. 1, 2016
“The Curator’s Eye III,” National Gallery of Art, Kingston, Jamaica, 2008
“Graham Davis,” Mutual Gallery, Kingston, Jamaica, 2008
“David Driskell,” Pomegranate Press, 2006
“Pin-Pricked Dieties: The Art of Joyce Scott”
Catalog Essay. Baltimore: Baltimore Museum/Maryland Institute College of Art, 1999
“Preserving Whose Mortality or Immortality?”
Catalog Essay. Mortality/Immortality?: The Legacy of 20th Century Art.
Los Angeles: The Getty Conservation Institute, 1999
Contemporary Artists From Cuba
Catalog Essay. Metaphor/Commentaries: Artists From Cuba
San Francisco: San Francisco State University, 1999
Art and Ethnography
Catalog Essay. Art of the Americas: Art and Ethnography
San Francisco: M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, 1998
Narratives of African American Art and Identity : The David C. Driskell Collection
Catalog Essay. San Francisco: Pomegranate Communications, 1998
Brandywine Workshop: 25th Anniversary Catalog
Catalog Essay. Philadelphia: Brandywine Workshop Center for the Visual Arts, 1997
African American Visual Aesthetics : A Postmodernist View; edited by David C. Driskell
Lead Essay. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1995
Artists of Conscience
Catalog Essay. New York: Alternative Museum, 1991
“Questioning the Quality of the Canon”
New Art Examiner, October 1990
Perspectives on the Art of Gauguin; For Nonwhites, It’s Racist Propaganda
The Washington Post, Sunday, July 3, 1988
“Black Artists of the Mid-Atlantic”
Catalog Essay
“Myth and Ritual”
Catalog Essay. Washington, DC: Touchstone Gallery, 1986
“Contemporary Print Images”
Catalog Essay. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1986
“Afro-American Painting and Mixed Media: 1970-1985” and “Printmaking by Afro-Americans”
In Choosing: An Exhibit of Changing Perspectives in Modern Art and Art Criticism by Black Americans 1925-1985; edited by Arna Alexander Bontemps. Hampton VA: Hampton University, 1986
Art in Washington and Its Afro-American Presence: 1940-1970
Catalog. Washington DC: Washington Project for the Arts, 1985
“Pattern in Painting”
Catalog Essay. Washington, DC: Corcoran Gallery, 1985
“Evocative Abstraction”
Catalog Essay. Philadelphia: Foundation for Today’s Art, 1985
“The Washington Show: Promises, Premises and Politics”
Exhibit Review. New Art Examiner, October 1985
“Speak Easy: Abstract Painting”
Exhibit Review. New Art Examiner, March 1984
“Poetic Objects”
Exhibit Review. New Art Examiner, March 1983
“Art of Pakistan at the Hirshhorn”
Exhibit Review. New Art Examiner, February 1983
“Washington Printmakers”
Exhibit Review. New Art Examiner, May 1982
“Jeff Donaldson at Howard”
Exhibit Review. New Art Examiner, September 1981
“Gerald Williams at Noa Gallery”
Exhibit Review. New Art Examiner, May 1981
“Corcoran Biennial”
Exhibit Review. New Art Examiner, April 1981
“R.B. Kitaj at the Hirshhorn: The sword of Don Quixote”
Exhibit Review. New Art Examiner, March 1981
“Realist Self-Portraits at Fendrick Gallery”
Exhibit Review. New Art Examiner, February 1981
“Marguerite Kendall and Aaron Levine at Osuna”
Exhibit Review. New Art Examiner, February 1981
“Alternatives by Black Artists”
Catalog Essay. Washington, DC: Washington Project for the Arts, 1980
“African Heritage and American Independence”
Exhibit Review. New Art Examiner, September 1980
“Black Art in America”
Exhibit Review. New Art Examiner, September 1980
“Fueling the Art Economy”
Exhibit Review. Format, Vol. 2 No. 9, 1980
“David C. Driskell”
Catalog Essay. College Park MD: University of Maryland, 1980
“Art Criticism: A Pan-African Point of View”
Essay. New Art Examiner, January 1979
“Emilio Cruz”
Exhibit Review. New Art Examiner, 1978
“Samuel Crockett and Bill Walker at South Side Art Center”
Exhibit Review. New Art Examiner, November 1977
“Ed Paschke at Phyllis Kind”
Exhibit Review. New Art Examiner, November 1977
“James Harvard”
Exhibit Review. New Art Examiner, November 1976
“Realism at Young-Hoffman”
Exhibit Review. New Art Examiner, November 1976
“Vera Clement”
Exhibit Review. New Art Examiner, November 1976
“Chicago’s Eclectic DuSable Museum”
Exhibit Review. New Art Examiner, May 1976
“Adrienne Drapkin and Barbara Grad”
Exhibit Review. New Art Examiner, March 1976
“Jacob Lawrence’s Toussaint L’Ouverture”, 1971
“Black Experience in Art”
Catalog Essay. Chicago: Bergman Gallery, University of Chicago, 1971
“Jacob Lawrence’s Toussiant L’Ouverture”
Chicago: Art Scene 1969
“The Probing Line: Art of Richard Hunt”
Fisk University, 1968
ART EXHIBITIONS CURATED
Magical Visions
University of Delaware Museums, fall 2011
Exhibition of paintings, photographs, sculptures and video.
Artists: Terry Adkins, Sonya Clark, Melvin Edwards, Sam Gilliam, Barkley L. Hendricks, calep Linzy, Karyn Olivier, Odili Odita, Faith Ringgold, William T.Williams
Keith Morrison wrote the catalogue essay
The Curator’s Eye III
at the National Gallery of Art, Kingston, Jamaica, 2008
Exhibition including film, video, performance, multimedia, painting, sculpture, prints.
Wrote catalogue essay.
Guest curator for the exhibition of international artists from the US, Denmark, Britain, Jamaica.
Artists include: Michelle Eistrup, Cleve Bowen, Carol Campbell, Carol Creigton, Paula Daly, Lawrence Graham-Brown, Albert Chong, Khepera Hatsheptwa, Andy Jefferson, O’Neil Lawrence, Tal Rickards, Ebony Patterson
Metaphor/Commentaries: Artists from Cuba
An exhibition jointly curated with Helmo Hernandez, Director of the Ludwig Foundation in Havana. The exhibition of photographs, prints, installations and videos included work of the following artists, all of whom lived in Cuba at the time: Juan Carlos Alon, Cirenaica Moreira, Marlon Castellanos, José Manuel Fors, Abigail González, Antonio Nüñez, Ramón Pacheco, René Peña, Manuel Piña, Sandra Ramos, Enrique Alvarez, Tania Bruguera, Pavel Giroud, and Luisa Marisy. The catalogue essay, “Contemporary Artists for Cuba,” was written by Keith Morrison. The exhibition was selected in Cuba and shown at the Art Gallery, San Francisco State University, Feb. 21 – March 24, 1999
American Prints at the Brandywine Workshop.
A United States Information Agency exhibition traveling throughout Africa (1987-89). Including 50 offset lithographs, serigraphs and etchings of 35 artists. Some of the artists: Jules Olitski, John Dowell, Richard Hunt, Sam Gilliam, James DuPree, Hitoshi Nagazato. The show is accompanied by a color catalogue whose main essay is written by Keith Morrison (see “Catalogues”).The exhibition traveled to: the National Museum, Bamako, Mali; the American Cultural center, Niamey, Niger; the School of Fine Arts Gallery, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda; Municipal Gallery, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Contemporary Print Images
An exhibition of prints from the Brandywine Workshop prepared and traveled to museums throughout the U.S. (1986-88) by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. The exhibition included work by 19 artists, including Frank Smith, Elizabeth Catlett-Mora, Benny Andrews, Selma Burke, John Wade and James Wells. A catalogue with photographs and an essay written by Keith Morrison accompanied the exhibition.
Myth and Ritual
An exhibition of nine artists from Washington, D.C., at Touchstone Gallery (a co-op. gallery), Washington, D.C., February, 1986. The artists: Sam Gilliam, Martha Jackson-Jarvis, Yvonne Carter, Sylvia Snowden, Frank Smith, Denise Ward-Brown, Michael Platt, Jerome Meadows and Percy Martin. The exhibition included a catalogue essay written by Keith Morrison (see “Catalogues”).
Evocative Abstraction
An exhibition of abstract art from Washington, D.C., at Nexus Gallery (Suzanne Horowitz, director) Philadelphia, PA., January, 1986. The artists: William Willis, W.C. Richardson, Walter Kravitz, Chris Gardener, Martha Jackson-Jarvis, Patrice Kehoe, Steven Cushner and Keith Morrison. The exhibition was accompanied by a catalogue with photographs and essay written by Keith Morrison (see “Catalogues”).
Art in Washington and its Afro-American Presence: 1940-1970.
An exhibition of 140 historical works, including paintings, sculptures, prints, crafts from the U.S., Central and South America, and Ancient African art. Accompanied by a catalogue/book, with black and white and color reproductions, written by Keith Morrison (see “Catalogue/Book).
Exhibition held at Washington Project for the Arts (Jock Reynolds, director) April, 1985.
Alternatives by Blacks
An exhibition of painting, sculptures and environmental installations of eight artists including: Terry Adkins (Virginia), Yvonne Carter (Washington), David C. Driskell (Maryland), Sherman Fleming (Washington), Sam Gilliam (Washington), Lois Mailou Jones (Washington), Jerome Meadows (Maryland), Martha Jackson-Jarvis (Washington), Robert Owings (Baltimore), Lorenzo Pace (Chicago), Gregg Pitts (Los Angeles), Joyce Scott (Baltimore). A catalogue accompanied the exhibition.
Held at Washington Project for the Arts (Al Nodal, director) Washington, D.C.
Black Experience in Art.
An exhibition of ten Mid-Western artists including Geraldine McCullough, Ralph Arnold, Bertram Phillips, Nelson Stevens, Sherman Beck.
Exhibition held at Bergman Gallery (Virgil Bernett, director), University of Chicago, 1971.
Jacob Lawrence’s Toussaint L’Ouverture Series.
An exhibition of the 39 works of the series of paintings, borrowed from Fisk University. Held at DePaul University Gallery (Keith Morrison, director), Chicago, IL., May, 1969.
Lectures Given
“The Landscape as Allegory”, Hudson River Museum, NY 2023
“Caribbean Art”, Katzen Museum, Washington, D.C., 2022
“My Art and the Middle Passage”, Katzen Museum, Washington, D.C., 2019
University of Delaware, 2012
University of Delaware, Museums, 2011
Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, 2009
Szechuan Academy,2008
Southwest University, 2008
Shanghai Art and Crafts Vocational School, 2008
Hangzhou Library, 2008
Arts School of Hangzhou Normal University, 2008
US Consulate lecture, 2008
Shanghai Biennale, 2009
East China Normal, 2008
Arts Scholl of Shanghai University
Aaron Douglass, Smithsonian Institution, 2008
2008“Graham Davis, Mutual Gallery, , Kingston, Jamaica, 2008
“Artists of the Curator’s Eye III,” National Gallery of Art, Jamaica, 2008
“Art and Collaboration, “ Edna Manley College, Jamaica, 2007
“International Issues in Contemporary Art, Taipei, 2001
“Legacy and Promise,” School of Visual Art, Kingston, Jamaica, 2000
“My Recent Work,” State University of New York, Stony Brook, 2000
“Mortality/Immortality: the Legacy of Twentieth Century Art” Getty Museum of Art, 1999
My Recent Painting, Colgate University, 1999
“Art and Cultural Identity, de Young Museum, San Francisco, 1999
“Issues in Contemporary Art,” Michigan State University, 1996
“The Emerging Artist,” University of California, Berkeley, 1995
“Race in Contemporary Art,” de Young Museum, San Francisco, 1994
“Horace Pippin,” Art Institute of Chicago, 1994
“David Driskell and Samella Lewis,” Bomani Gallery, San Francisco CA, December 1993
“A Sense of Place,” University of Michigan, Center for the Humanities, Ann Arbor, Michigan
“Jacob Lawrence, Sources and Influences,” de Young Museum, San Francisco.
“Recent Work,” Arizona State University, October, Tempe, 1993
“Changes” keynote graduation Address San Francisco Art Instate, May, 1993
“The Art of Claude Clark, Richard Mayhew, Richard Yarde, Bomani Gallery, San Francisco, March, 1993
“Recent Work, Somona State Univ., May, 1993
“Art of James Porter, Keynote, Howard University, Nov. 1992
“Recent Paintings,” Maryland Institute of Art, Baltimore, MD, Nov. 6, 1991
“Sources of My Work,” University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, February, 1990
“Myth and Memory,” California Institute for the Arts, April, 1990
“Caribbean Influences,” Wayne State University, Detroit, February, 1990
“Art Outside the Mainstream,” National Museum of American Art, Washington D.C., Oct., 1989
“Printmaking at the Brandywine Workshop,” Charleston College, NC, Sept., 1989
“Gauguin and the Origin of the Sauvage in Modern Art,” Metropolitan Museum, NYC, February, 1989.
“Abstract Art and Cultural Identity,” Philadelphia Academy, January, 1989
“Art in the Caribbean and Central America,” Latin American Museum of Modern Art, Washington D.C., June, 1988.
“The Graduate Art Student,” Maryland Institute of Art, Baltimore, May, 1988.
“Civilization and Barbarism in Art,” Wabash College, Indiana, May, 1988.
“Memory and Myth,” Maryland Institute of Art, Baltimore, December, 1987.
“Primitivism in Contemporary Art,” Corcoran School of Art, Washington D.C. October, 1987.
“Caribbean Art,” Latin American Book Fair, University of the District of Columbia, October, 1987.
“Afro-American Art and the Evolution of Art Criticism in the Twentieth Century,” Baltimore Museum of Art, June 13, 1987.
“The Mythic Content,” Anacostia Museum, Smithsonian Institution, July 2, 1987.
“In Search of Patrons, the Dilemma of Afro-American Artists,” National Museum of American History, Washington, D.C., January, 1987.
“Art by Afro-Americans Since 1970,” Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, IL. February, 1986.
“Directions in Afro-American Art,” Baltimore Museum of Art, MD., February, 1985.
“Counterpoint: Five Black Artists of the Nineteenth Century,” National Museum of American History, Washington, D.C., February, 1985.
“Contemporary Issues in Afro-American Art,” National Museum of American Art, Washington, D.C. April, 1985.
“Influences of Recent Afro-American Art,” Hahn Gallery, Philadelphia, PA., April, 1985.
“Afro-American Art Since the Depression,” Art Institute of Chicago, IL., September, 1985.
“Issues in Contemporary Art,” Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA., October, 1985.
“Trends and Minority Artists,” Philadelphia Art Alliance, Pennsylvania, April, 1984.
“West African Continuities in Afro-American Art,” National Conference of Artists, Richmond, VA., April, 1984.
“Black Modernists in Art,” Washington Project for the Arts, Washington, D.C., November. 1983.
“Afro-American Women in Art,” University of Maryland, College Park, MD., October, 1980.
“Irony in Contemporary Art,” University of Wisconsin, Stephens Point, November, 1980.
“Art and Social Thought,” University of Liberia, 1979.
“Art and the Forces of Culture,” Chicago State University, IL., 1978.
“Recent Afro-American Iconography,” College Art Association of America,” Detroit, Michigan, January, 1974.
“New Realism in Art,” Elgin College, Illinois, 1972.
“Recent Ideas in My Painting,” Art Institute of Chicago, IL. 1971.
“Universal Concepts in the Humanities,” National Catholic Educators Association, Atlantic City, NJ., 1970.
SYMPOSIUMS
“Contemporary African American Art,” Lincoln University, 2012
“Contemporary Art in Cuba,” Toronto Art Fair, 2001
The Art of Joyce Scott, Baltimore Museum of Art, 2000
Panel Moderator, “Cuban Contemporary Art,” San Francisco State University,
Feb. 1999, with Judith Bettelheim (art historian); Tony Labat (artist) ;
Marilyn Zeitlin (museum director); Alex Rosenberg (Director, Rosenberg Fine Arts); and Wilfredo Benitez (Cuban art curator).
Panel Moderator, “MFA Bill of Rights, Rites” CAA, New York, 1994
“Free Within Ourselves ” symposium, Crocker Museum, Sacramento, CA, Nov., 1993,
with Dr. Paul Rogers, University of Chicago, Tretobia Benjamin, Howard
University, Dr. Allan Gordon, Professor emeritus, California State University
“Claude Clark, Richard Mayhew, Richard Yard,” Bomani Galley, San Francisco, 19
“Issues in Contemporary Art,” CCAC, Oakland, 1993
“Artist Who Work Outside of New York,” with Steven Mannheim, chair, Paul Kraneck, Ed Paschke
James McGarrell, Hollis Siegler
College Art Association of America, Chicago, Feb., 1992
“Who Needs Criticism,” with David Carrier.
Maryland Art Place,
Baltimore, MD., October, 1991
“Multicultural perspectives, National Assoc. of Museum Professionals,
Smithsonian Institution, April, 1991
“Pluralism Today,” With Leslie King Hammond, Mark Zuver.
Baltimore Museum, February, 1991
“Contemporary African Art,” Annual African Studies Association
Conference, Baltimore, October, 1991
“Multicultural Issues in Washington,” with Mark Zuver,
Maurice Berger, others, September, 1991
Corcoran Gallery of Art,
“Provincialism and Art Outside New York”
with Derek Guthrie, New Art Examiner
School 33, Baltimore, MD., May 1990
“The Decade Show,” with Judith Wilson, David Deitcher, others.
City College of NY, NYC
“American Visions: Twentieth Century Afro-American Artists.”
Keith Morrison’s: presentation: “In Search of Patrons: the
Dilemma of Afro-American Artists from 1925 to the present.”
other panelists: Judith Wilson, art critic; James
Washington, Professor of Church History, Union
Theological Seminary; Frank Smith, Professor of Art,
Howard University (moderator); Steven L. Jones,
Archivist, National Conference of Artists (respondent).
National Museum of American History, Washington, D.C., January 14, 1987.
“Recent American Art: Its Sources and Hidden Influences.”
Morrison’s presentation: “The lack of Documentation of Contributions of Afro-American Artists in Contemporary Art.”
Other panelists: Sam Gilliam, artist, David Stevens,
artist, Jody Pinto, artist.
Philadelphia Art Alliance, Pennsylvania, 1984
“Issues In Afro-American Art,”
Morrison’s presentation: Afro-American Artists and Museum
patronage.” Other panelists included Fred Eversley, sculptor, Carroll Sims, sculptor, and Sharon Patton, art
historian/curator, moderator.
California Afro-American Art Museum, Los Angeles, CA., 1984.
“Role of the Critic in Contemporary Art.”
Morrison’s presentation: “The Significance of Critical Advocacy.” Others on the panel: John Perrault, poet, critic,
Village Voice; Ellen Lubell, critic, Art in America;
Carrie Ritchie, critic Art News.
National Writers Conference, New York, NY., 1981.
“American Sculpture Today and Yesterday.”
Morrison’s presentation: “Robert Morris’s the Present Tense of Space.” Other panelist: Kenneth Campbell, sculptor and
Professor of Art University of Maryland; Ralph Baney, sculptor.
University of Maryland, College Park, June, 1980.
“Recent Art in the South: the Southern Mystique.”
Morrison’s presentation: Effects of Black Southern Folk Art
upon Contemporary American Art.” Other panelist: Dr. Allan
Gordon, Chairman, Dept. of Art, California State University, Sacramento.
Nashville Tennessee, 1976.
“Responsibility of the Artist to Society”
Morrison’s presentation: “The making of Art as an A-social
Activity” Other panelists: Morris Barazani, painter, Professor of Art, University of Illinois, Chicago; Dennis
Kowalski, sculptor, Assistant Professor, DePaul University.
Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL., 1974.
“Jacob Lawrence and Toussaint L’Ouverture.”
Morrison, moderator. Panelists: Dr. Margaret Burroughs, Director DuSable Museum; Charles Burroughs, historian;
- Jeff Donaldson, Art Historian.
DePaul University, Chicago, 1971.
ART EXHIBITIONS GIVEN
Solo/Duo Exhibitions
“Brandywine Latinx Prints”, Brandywine Workshop, Philadelphia, 2021
“African American Art of the Twentieth Century”, Hudson River Museum, NY, 2021
“Arrivals”, Katonah Museum, NY, 2021
International Museum of Slavery and Memory, Ouida, Berlin, 2021
The International Museum of Memory and Slavery (MIME), Benin, 2021
“Still Modern,” Flint Institute of Art, 2019
London Print Studio, UK, 2019
Zona Imaginera Graphic Studio, Buenos Aires, 2019
Center for Fine Print Research, Massachusetts, 2019
Multidisciplinary Printmaking Programme, Bristol, UK, 2019
Katzen Museum, Washington DC, 2019
Philadelphia Airport, United Airlines Terminal, 2019
Driskell Center, University of Maryland, 2018
University of Delaware Museums, fall, 2011
Luce Gallery, Cornell College, Iowa, 2008
“New Possessions,” Art Museum of the Americas, 2006
511 Gallery, NYC, 2005
Brandywine Graphic Workshop, Philadelphia, PA, 2005
Miller/Geisler Gallery, NYC, 2002
De Young Museum, San Francisco, CA, 1998 — duo
“Caribbean Visions,” Center for the Fine Arts, Miami, FL, 1997
“Caribbean Visions,” New Orleans Museum of Art, LA, 1997
Bomani Gallery, San Francisco, 1996
Cavin Morris Gallery, NYC, 1993 — duo
Brody’s Gallery, 1991
Alternative Museum, NYC, 1990
Fonda Del Sol, Washington D.C. 1990
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1990
Hampton University, VA., 1988 — duo
HarrisBrown Gallery, Boston, 1985
Brody’s Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1987
Jan Cicero Gallery, Chicago, 1979 — duo
NAME Gallery, Chicago, duo, 1978
Monrovia, Liberia, 1979
Chicago State University, Chicago, 1978
“Works on Paper,” DePaul University Gallery, Chicago, 1976
Illinois State Arts Council, Chicago. 1975
South Side Art Center, Chicago, 1975
Carl Van Vechten Gallery, Fisk University, 1974
Group Exhibitions
Sheldon Museum of Art, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2016
Flint Museum, Michigan, 2015
Kalamazoo Institute of Art, Michigan, 2015
Muskegon Museum of art, Michigan, 2015
Polk Museum of Art, March 21 –June 29, 2015
Figge Museum of Art, Sept. 20, 2014 – Jan 4, 2015
“Conversations: African and African American Art in Dialogue,” Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, No. 2014
“Flow,” IDB Center, Washington, DC, June 2014-January 2015
Crocker Museum, Sacramento, CA, July –October, 2014
“In Conversation,” Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA, May –August,
“African American artist of the twentieth Century,” Minnolo Museum of Art, Orlando, Florida, Feb., 2013
“African-American Art Since 1950,” Taft Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio, Feb., 2013
“New Acquisitions, “Flint Institute of Art, Michigan, Feb., 2013
“Prints from the Brandywine workshop,” Snyderman/Works gallery, Philadelphia, 2013
“Full Spectrum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, fall, 2012
“Out of Many,” Fonda del Sol Gallery, September, 2012
“African American Artists,” Smithsonian American Museum, April, 2012
Prints, Brandywine Graphic Workshop, Philadelphia, 2012
Solo, U Delaware, Sept-Dec., 2011
Philadelphia Museum, print, 2011 (Ruth Fine, curator), 2011
“African-American Art: 1950-2010,” SITES/Driskell Center, U of Maryland, 2011
American University Gallery: exhibition: WPA 35 years, fall 2010
New Orleans Museum “Amistad” exhibition, June-July 2010
University of Museum, U of Delaware, 2008
Temple University, 2007-08
Art Institute of Chicago, 2003
Triton Museum of Art, California, 2003
Naples Museum of Art, Florida, 2002
Brandywine Graphic Workshop, Philadelphia, 2002
University of Maryland Art Gallery, 2002
Venice Biennale, Italy, 2001
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 2001
Newark Art Museum, NJ, 2001
de Young Museum, San Francisco, 1999-2000
Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2000
High Museum, Atlanta, 2000
Cincinnati Art Museum, 2000
de Young Museum, San Francisco, 1999
University of Marilyn, College Park, 1998
Latin American Art Museum, Long Beach, CA, 1998
Center for the Arts, Vero Beach, Florida, 1998
Center for African American art and Culture, Smithsonian Institution, 1997
Brandywine Workshop, Philadelphia, 1997
“Caribbean Visions,” Wadsworth Athenaeum, Hartford, CT, 1997
Middlebury College Art Museum, Vermont, 1997
Art in Chicago, 1945-95, Museum of Contemporary Art, 1996
African American Museum, Dallas, Texas, 1996
New Orleans Art Museum, LA, 1996
“Caribbean Visions: Contemporary Painting and Sculpture,” Center for the Fine Arts, Miami, Florida, 1995
Caribbean Biennial, Santo Domingo, 1994
Pennsylvania Museum of Art, Philadelphia, 1994
National Museum of American Art, 1994
Brody’s Gallery, Washington, DC, 1994
Brandywine Graphic Workshop, Philadelphia, 1993
Cavin-Morris Gallery,, 1993
Jamaica Art Center, New York, 1992
National Museum of American Art, 1992
Isobel Neal Gallery, Chicago, 1992
Museum of Modern Art, Monterrey Mexico, 1992
Alternative Museum, NYC, 1991
Bowling Green University, 1991
“Myth and Magic in the Americas: the Eighties,” 1991
Museum of Modern Art, Monterrey Mexico, 1991
University of Maryland, Baltimore, 1991
Studio Museum, NYC, 1990
Bronx Museum, NYC, 1990
“The Blues Aesthetics,” WPA Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1989
“Art By Americans and Brazilians of African Descent,”
California Afro-American Museum, Los Angeles, 1989
California Afro-American Museum, Los Angeles, 1989
Connecticut Gallery, New Haven, 1989
“Surrealism Continued,”
South Eastern Center for Contemporary Art, 1989
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., 1988
Pensacola Museum of Art, Florida, 1988
“From the Caribbean,” Fonda Del Sol Gallery,
Washington D.C., July, 1988.
Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, , 1988
HUB Galleries, State College, PA ,1988
University of Minnesota, Morris, MN , 1988
Krasal Art Center, St. Joseph, MI. , 1988
Purdue University, 1988
Oregon Historical Society, 1988
“Art of Black America in Japan,” Tokyo, 1987
Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio, 1987
Robert Hull Fleming Museum, University of Vermont, 1987
Midland Arts Council, Midland Center for the Arts, Michigan, , 1987
Anacostia Museum, Smithsonian Institution (with Sam Gilliam,
Martha Jackson-Jarvis, William T. Williams), Washington D.C., , 1987
Grand Rapids Art Museum, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1987
CGNA Museum and Art Collection, Philadelphia, PA. , 1987
Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, 1987
The Print Club, Philadelphia, 1987
Richmond College, Dallas, Texas, 1987
Harris Brown Gallery, Boston, Mass., 1986
High Museum, Atlanta, GA., 1986
California Museum of Afro-American Art, LA., 1986
Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Florida,, 1986
Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, Illinois, 1986
Millersville University, PA., 1986
High Museum Georgia Pacific Center, Atlanta, GA., 1986
“Choosing,” Portsmouth Art Center, Portsmouth, VA., 1986
University of South Carolina, 1986
Chicago State University, Illinois, 1986
Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Florida, 1986
Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, Illinois, 1986
Art Institute of Chicago, Contemporary Art Gallery, 1985
Tyler Gallery of Art, Temple Univ. Philadelphia, PA., 1985
“Encore,” HarrisBrown Gallery, Boston, MA. 1985
“Evocative Abstraction,” Nexus Gallery, Philadelphia, 1985
“Installations,” Miami-Dade Library Gallery, Florida, 1985
“History in the Making,” Parent Association Art Gallery,
University of Maryland, College Park, 1985
“Profiles,” Univ. of Maryland Art Gallery, College Park, 1984
Ninth International Drawing Exhibition, Museum of Modern Art, Rijeka,
Yugoslavia, 1984
Crystal Briton Gallery, Atlanta, 1984
Fifth National Juried Exhibition, Atlanta Life Company, GA., 1984
Bayly Museum, University of Virginia, 1984
“East/West: Afro-American Contemporary Art,”
California Afro-American Museum, Los Angeles, 1984
Art as Image of America,” Indiana University, Pennsylvania, 1983
Jan Cicero Gallery, Chicago International Arts Festival, 1983
“Four Artists,” (Gilliam, Driskell, Morrison, Truitt ),
University of Maryland Art Gallery, College Park, 1983
“Ten + Ten + Ten,” Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1982
Carl Van Vechten Gallery, Fisk University, Nashville, Tenn., 1982
Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale, VA. 1982
Alma Thomas Memorial Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1982
“Chicago Abstraction,” Gallerie Tillie Hardek,
Karlshrue, Germany, 1980
Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama, 1977
Renaissance Society Gallery, University of Chicago, IL., 1977
Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL., 1977
NAME Gallery, Chicago, IL. , 1977
Battle Creek Museum, Battle Creek, Michigan, 1977
Washington State University, 1977
Albany Institute of American History and Culture, NY., 1977
Iowa State University. 1977
Jesse Besser Museum, Alpena, Michigan, 1977
Princeton University, NJ., 1976
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, 1976
Illinois State University, Normal, IL., 1976
University of Cincinnati, Ohio. 1976
“Chicago Art,” Union Gallery, Purdue University, Indiana., 1976
NAME Gallery, “2nd. Drawing Invitational,” Chicago, IL. , 1976
State Capitol Museum, Jackson, Mississippi. 1976
Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama, 1976
Brooks Memorial Art Gallery, Memphis, Tennessee, 1976
Columbus Fine Arts Gallery, Ohio, 1976
Milwaukee Center for the Performing Arts, Wisconsin, 1976
Jackson State University, Mississippi, 1976
Tougaloo College, Jackson Mississippi, 1976
Dignity House, St. Louis Missouri, 1976
University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, 1976
Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas, 1976
L.B.J. Memorial Library, Austin, Texas, 1976
“Retrospective,” Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL., 1976
Rainbow Sign Gallery, Oakland, California, 1975
“Amistad II Exhibition of Afro-American Art, 1850 – 1975,”
Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee, 1975
University of Minnesota, St. Paul, 1975
South Street Seaport Museum, New York, NY., 1975
Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY., 1975
“Chicago Printmakers,” (with Ray Martin and Mish Cohen),
Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago IL. , 1974
University of Tennessee, Martin, Tenn., 1974
University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tenn., 1974
State College in Cleveland, Ohio, 1974
“50 Years of Black Aesthetics,” Chicago Museum of Science and
Industry, Chicago, IL. 1972
“25th. Illinois Invitational,” Illinois State Museum, Springfield, IL, 1972
Art Institute of Chicago, 1971
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, 1971
Sloan Gallery, Valpariso, Indiana, 1971
Malcolm X College, Chicago, IL., 1971
Davenport Municipal Gallery, Davenport, Iowa, 1971
Smith-Mason Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1971
New Jersey State Museum., 1971
“Black Artists ’71,” Illinois Bell Telephone Company, 1971
Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio, 1971
Cornell University, Ithica, NY., 1970
Marge Kovler Gallery, Chicago, 1970
Atlanta University, Georgia., 1970
University of Alabama., 1970
“Chicago Prints,” Allan Frumkin Gallery, Chicago, IL. , 1970
“30th. Anniversary Invitational,” Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL. 1969
DePaul University Art Gallery, Chicago, IL., 1969
Stephens College, Columbia, Missouri., 1969
Vanderbilt University Art Gallery, Nashville, Tennessee, 1968
Jarvis Christian College, Texas.
“Grande Jatte,” Practicing Artists of Chicago (PAC), 1968
Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL. , 1968
South Side Art Center, Chicago, IL., 1968
Art Institute of Chicago, 1966
Awards
The Porter Lifetime Achievement Award, Howard University, The National Gallery of Art, and the University of Maryland, 2023
Commander in the Order of Distinction (CD), Jamaica, 2017
Lifetime Achievement Award, Brandywine Workshop, Philadelphia, 2013
Fulbright to China, 2009
US Cultural Envoy to Shanghai Biennale, 2008
Venice Biennale, 2001
King/Chavez Distinguished Visiting Scholar, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1990
Distinguished Achievement in Painting, National Association for Equal Opportunity in Education, 1984.
International Award for Painting, Organization of African Unity, Liberia, 1978.
Bicentennial Award for Painting, City of Chicago, IL., 1976.
Danforth Foundation Associate, St. Louis, MO., 1971-72.
Ford Foundation Graduate Student, Art Institute of Chicago, IL., 1963-65.
COLLECTIONS WITH KEITH MORRISON’S ART (SELECTED)
Rhode Island School of Design Museum
The University of Texas, Austin
The Perez Museum
Stanley Museum, University of Texas, Austin
Perez Museum, Miami, FL.
Art Institute of Chicago
Corcoran Gallery of Art
Washington Post Collection
Dusable Museum, Chicago
Burrell Advertising, Chicago, IL.
Hampton University
Johnson Collection, Chicago.
World Bank
Bell Telephone Company
Prudential Insurance Co.
Bill Cosby Collection
Talladega College
National Gallery of Jamaica
Horowich Collection
University of the West Indies
Fisk University
Artery, Washington, D.C.
Philadelphia Mus. of Art
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
Afro-Am. Art/ Culture
Smithsonian American Museum of Art
Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, China
Cincinnati Museum of Art
Flint Institute of Art
University of Alabama
Mobile Museum of Art
Yale University
Driskell Collection, U. of Maryland
National Gallery of Art
Perez Art Museum
Katzen Museum