Paintings

Pard Morrison presents “Everywhere You Go Love” at Robischon Gallery

August 19, 20245 Mins Read


It has been nine years since Colorado painter Pard Morrison showed his work in Denver, though it is clear that he saved up a lot of thought-provoking ideas for his return.

In some ways, the work in his current solo exhibit, “Everywhere You Go Love,” will be familiar to the many fans who remember the artist when he was a fixture at Rule Gallery back in the day. Morrison still thinks in straight lines and right angles. His signature move of creating multi-colored grids on flat surfaces remains at the center of his pictures.

Colorado painter Pard Morrison has not exhibited his work in a solo show in Denver for nine years. Photo provided by Robischon Gallery.
Colorado painter Pard Morrison has not exhibited his work in a solo show in Denver for nine years. Photo provided by Robischon Gallery.

Morrison has always been heavily influenced by the geometric abstraction movement of the 20th century — he’s a disciple of Agnes Martin —  though he has long managed to carve his own distinguishable path through that overly-appropriated terrain. He brings it up to date using high-tech paint applied to aluminum, rather than the usual oil or acrylic on canvas.

Still, in other ways, the work feels very fresh. Part of that is because he is well-matched with his new art dealer, Robischon Gallery in the LoDo neighborhood, which has just the sort of tall and expansive exhibition space Morrison’s work needs to shine. This show only has nine objects but it feels sprawling.

There is plenty of room for both the two-dimensional wall pieces on display and a new series of paintings done on 10-foot-tall columns that Morrison custom fabricates. The columns, which look like a field of totems decorated on all sides with blocks of color, play out as something in between painting, sculpture and, because of their large scale, architecture.

Morrison also has an evolved attitude in his work, and that is the thing that really makes it new. I’ve always thought of his objects as formal and rigid, a bit cold at times. That was his calling card in the eyes of many admirers.

Now he is more mature, not just in years, though that is true, but also apparently somewhere in his soul, too. The recent work is softer, more human. It is less intimidating, and warmer.

A viewer has to look hard to see all that niceness. From far away, these works look like they rolled off an assembly line. They appear exacting, too perfect to be made with real hands. The decorative pattern looks to be calculated with a level of precision that only a quantum computer could devise.

Pre Morrison’s “Everywhere You Go Love” continues through Oct.. 5 at Robischon Gallery. Photo provided by Robischon Gallery.

The materials are intimidating, as well. Morrison’s media of choice is Fluoronar, a protective coating commonly used on boats and the cranes that lift cargo at marine ports. Indeed, Morrison’s works hold up indoors or outdoors; weather cannot destroy them.



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