Mali Morris explores in her abstract paintings how colour can construct luminosity, building complex layers of rhythmic pictorial space; she investigates the language of painting, its ever-changing expressive possibilities, and how it could relate to our experience in the world. In 2013 Morris began to make prints with Kip Gresham, and was fascinated by the parallels with, and differences between, the way paintings and prints are constructed. They have collaborated annually since then, in a rich and productive investigation into how a painter might negotiate this translation into another medium.
Morris studied Fine Art at the Universities of Newcastle upon Tyne and Reading, and has been exhibiting nationally and internationally since the late 1970s. She was elected a Royal Academician in 2010. A recent solo show was at Fold Galley, London, and in 2019 she held an exhibition of early works on paper at the Royal Academy, alongside her selection of works from the RA’s Collection. A monograph, Mali Morris: Painting was published in the same year by the RA.
Her prints have been exhibited widely in the last few years – in various group exhibitions, and at the annual Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. In 2018 there was a retrospective of all her prints, at Randan Stables Gallery, in association with the Hay Festival. Her work is held in many major national and international collections. She lives and works London.
