career

John R. Morrison is a painter and digital mixed media artist from Denver, Colorado. He is represented by Sandra Phillips Gallery and has been painting and making art for nearly two decades.

His work has been featured in local and national museum and gallery exhibitions, including the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, Singer Gallery at Mizel Arts and Cultural Center, and Ron Judish Fine Art. His paintings have been purchased for public and private collections, including the City of Westminster, CO; the office of U.S. Representative, Diana DeGette; the Harlem office of President William Jefferson Clinton; and have been featured in several publications, including the Westword, The Denver Post, The Rocky Mountain News, and New American Paintings.

John has a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Painting and Drawing) from Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, where he studied painting and drawing under several Denver area artists, including Clark Richert, Chuck Parson, Ania Gola-Kumor, Barbara Groh-Wahlström, Bruce Price, Bryan Andrews, and Paul Gillis. John also holds a Master of Divinity (Theology and Culture) from the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, CO.

artist statement

I am a painter and digital media artist who is captivated by the history and visual language of abstract art. I use paint, painterly techniques, color, design, new digital based technologies, pentimento, and personal experience to create paintings and digital animations that aspire to be mysterious and beautiful as well as to initiate a moving, emotional experience for the viewer.

Every painting I create involves a three step process. These steps do not necessarily follow a chronological order, and I’m rarely conscious of them taking place. When I step back, I become aware. The first has to do with the basics of painting; making a blank surface, choosing colors, picking up a brush or spray paint can, and applying paint to surface. The second step is the work of finding the painting within the paintings. Penitmento is an Italian word that literally means correction and refers to an underlying image that is revealed over time. Through layering, masking and revealing, my goal as a painter is to reveal and frame a painting without hiding its underlying history. A close encounter with one of my paintings discloses a surface of layers that suggest images-alternative paintings-covered for the sake of the one, the final visible painting. The third step has to do with the emotional and intellectual process of connecting the painting to my world. Is the painting finished? Do I like it? Who or what has influenced this particular painting? How shall I name it? What will/do others think of it? With these, the painting is created and awaits its fate.