COLLECTION NAME:
The AMICA Library
mediaCollectionId
AMICO~1~1
The AMICA Library
Collection
true
AMICA ID:
CMA_.1998.117
amicoid
CMA_.1998.117
AMICA ID
false
AMICA Library Year:
2000
aly
2000
AMICA Library Year
false
Object Type:
Photographs
oty
Photographs
Object Type
false
Creator Name:
Morell, Abelardo
crn
Morell, Abelardo
Creator Name
false
Creator Nationality:
North American; American
crc
North American; American
Creator Nationality
false
Creator Role:
artist
crr
artist
Creator Role
false
Creator Dates/Places:
1948
cdt
1948
Creator Dates/Places
false
Biography:
Abelardo Morell American, b. Cuba, 1948-Havana-born Abe Morell became interested in photography while a student of John McKee at Bowdoin College in Maine (B.A., 1977). Fascinated by the surreal, he initially produced manipulated prints of outlandish scenarios. The work of Robert Frank, Diane Arbus, and Henri Cartier-Bresson, however, showed Morell "that straight photography could pack more surrealism into a picture" than he could achieve through manipulation. Adopting a 35mm straight technique, in 1978 he traveled to Miami and New York to work as a street photographer in the vein of Garry Winogrand and Lee Friedlander, continuing in this format at Yale University (M.F.A., 1981). In the late 1980s, Morell began two series for which he is best known: large-scale black-and-white photographs of interior spaces made with a self-built camera obscura, and still lifes of pictures of the pictures in books. The images provide clever post-modern commentary on the nature of photographic representation by referencing the medium's beginnings while simultaneously celebrating the ephemeral magic of light and shadow. Devoid of human subjects, these psychologically complex interior landscapes allude to the changing spheres of childhood and family, and our understanding of history itself, in contemporary middle-class society. Morell has received fellowships from the Cintas Foundation (1992-93) and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (1993-94). He currently chairs the photography department at Massachusetts College of Art and lives in Quincy. A.W.
crb
Abelardo Morell American, b. Cuba, 1948-Havana-born Abe Morell became interested in photography while a student of John McKee at Bowdoin College in Maine (B.A., 1977). Fascinated by the surreal, he initially produced manipulated prints of outlandish scenarios. The work of Robert Frank, Diane Arbus, and Henri Cartier-Bresson, however, showed Morell "that straight photography could pack more surrealism into a picture" than he could achieve through manipulation. Adopting a 35mm straight technique, in 1978 he traveled to Miami and New York to work as a street photographer in the vein of Garry Winogrand and Lee Friedlander, continuing in this format at Yale University (M.F.A., 1981). In the late 1980s, Morell began two series for which he is best known: large-scale black-and-white photographs of interior spaces made with a self-built camera obscura, and still lifes of pictures of the pictures in books. The images provide clever post-modern commentary on the nature of photographic representation by referencing the medium's beginnings while simultaneously celebrating the ephemeral magic of light and shadow. Devoid of human subjects, these psychologically complex interior landscapes allude to the changing spheres of childhood and family, and our understanding of history itself, in contemporary middle-class society. Morell has received fellowships from the Cintas Foundation (1992-93) and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (1993-94). He currently chairs the photography department at Massachusetts College of Art and lives in Quincy. A.W.
Biography
false
Gender:
M
cgn
M
Gender
false
Creator Birth Place:
Havanna, Cuba
cbp
Havanna, Cuba
Creator Birth Place
false
Creator Name-CRT:
Abelardo Morell
crt
Abelardo Morell
Creator Name-CRT
false
Title:
Map of North America
otn
Map of North America
Title
false
Title Type:
Primary
ott
Primary
Title Type
false
View:
Full View
rid
Full View
View
false
Creation Date:
1996
oct
1996
Creation Date
false
Creation Start Date:
1996
ocs
1996
Creation Start Date
false
Creation End Date:
1996
oce
1996
Creation End Date
false
Materials and Techniques:
gelatin silver print
omd
gelatin silver print
Materials and Techniques
false
Dimensions:
Sheet: 50.8cm x 60.7cm, Image: 46cm x 57.1cm
met
Sheet: 50.8cm x 60.7cm, Image: 46cm x 57.1cm
Dimensions
false
AMICA Contributor:
The Cleveland Museum of Art
oon
The Cleveland Museum of Art
AMICA Contributor
false
Owner Location:
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
oop
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Owner Location
false
ID Number:
1998.117
ooa
1998.117
ID Number
false
Credit Line:
Judith K. and S. Sterling McMillan III Photography Purchase Fund
ooc
Judith K. and S. Sterling McMillan III Photography Purchase Fund
Credit Line
false
Inscriptions:
written in pencil on verso: ABELARDO MORELL (signed) MAP OF NORTH AMERICA, 1996"
oin
written in pencil on verso: ABELARDO MORELL (signed) MAP OF NORTH AMERICA, 1996"
Inscriptions
false
Rights:
orl
<a href="http://www.clemusart.com/museum/disclaim2.html"target="_new">http://www.clemusart.com/museum/disclaim2.html</a>
Rights
false
Context:
A map of North America is transformed into an imaginary landscape when it is crumpled, filled with water, and photographed. Rather than manipulating the chemical processes of photography, Morell alters the object and then emphasizes its new, unusual form in a straightforward photograph.
cxd
A map of North America is transformed into an imaginary landscape when it is crumpled, filled with water, and photographed. Rather than manipulating the chemical processes of photography, Morell alters the object and then emphasizes its new, unusual form in a straightforward photograph.
Context
false
Related Image Identifier Link:
CMA_.1998.117.tif
ril
CMA_.1998.117.tif
Related Image Identifier Link
false