John Morra

JOHN MORRA BIOGRAPHY

 

 

Born: 13 September 1962, Meridian Mississippi

 

Residence: Stuyvesant, New York

 

Education: John earned a Bachelor’s Degree in English from Westmont College, Santa Barbara, California, in 1985; in 1988 he earned a second Bachelor’s Degree in fine art from The University of California, Santa Barbara; in 1991 he earned a Masters of Fine Arts Degree from The New York Academy of Art, New York City.

 

Galleries: John has shown extensively in the United States, and was a regularly featured artist at the following galleries:

 

John Pence Gallery, San Francisco, where he participated in many group shows, and had several one-man shows;

 

Hirschl and Adler Gallery, New York City, where he was represented for a decade, and had four one-man shows;

 

Eleanor Ettinger Gallery, New York City, where he had several one-man shows.

 

Influences:  John is a passionate follower of the European Still-life and landscape tradition. His favorite artists include Vermeer, Velazquez, Cotán, Melendez, Chardin and Corot. Amongst modern painters, he considers Walter Tandy Murch a prime influence.

 

Artist’s statement: “Realism in painting today is seen by some as an anachronism, in light of recent surges in technology, automation, and new art forms such as film and computer-generated imagery. But I believe that the desire to express the world in painted form is an ancient impulse in human beings; it may even be a feature that accelerated our evolution. By carefully observing the world, whether the subject be a bowl of fruit, or a view of a forest, or a human face, painters can tap into a deeply satisfying mode of perception and understanding. Paintings made in such a state will thus continue to be meaningful, as they display our ability to see, understand, and present these observations as true and beautiful.”

 

 

* This statement has been provided directly by the artist in association to their 16^th International ARC Salon entries. This content has not been edited for typos or grammatical errors and has not been vetted for accuracy.