Burton Morris is a TV star. No, he doesn’t act. If you were stuck with him in an elevator you wouldn’t say, “Hey, didn’t you guest-star on an episode of ‘Law and Order: Special Victims Unit?’” He’s not a director or a costumer designer or even that most nebulous and mysterious of television roles, the co-executive producer. He’s neither a pitchman nor a game show host; yet, he will readily and happily tell you that television most definitely had an impact on his career.
The show was “Friends,” the sitcom about six annoying young people and their equally annoying high jinks in New York. It was 1994 and in one episode, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc, and the late Matthew Perry came back after playing a baseball game in Central Park. “Apparently, one of the film crew was wearing one of my baseball shirts, and it showed a baseball player with the words ‘Big Hitter,’” Morris says. “David Schwimmer said, ‘Hey, could I borrow that shirt for the scene?’ And he wore it and it stuck and it stayed on. I ended up calling up Warner Brothers the next day after I heard my shirt was on this new show called ‘Friends’ and the creator of the show, Kevin Bright, asked me to come out and see one of the tapings of the show. [The cast and I] are all the same age and I got to hang out and I’m like, ‘Hey, good luck with the show.’ Then, the show takes off. [Bright asked,] ‘Hey, would you be interested in having us use some of your art on the show as [we] continue our series?’ What was so nice was that the cast members ended up acquiring work and Warner Brothers acquired things. What was so interesting was how as it became a pop culture phenomena, it helped build my brand, as well.”
You’ve seen it – the coffee cup with the single swirl of steam that hung in the Central Perk coffee shop in “Friends.” You’ve seen Morris’ box of popcorn and you might have seen his Absolut bottle, his winged bottle of Coke, and even his colorful bowl of fruit. They bring to mind Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s soup can and portrait of Mao Zedong or Keith Haring’s amorphous humans such as his “radiant baby.” Morris is one of the greatest contemporary creators of pop art – that purposely low-brow art form championed by artist such as Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein that sought to counter the lugubrious, often pretentious, seriousness of post-war abstract expressionism. And like Warhol and Haring, Morris is a native Pennsylvanian; he grew up not far from the Carnegie Museum of Art, which he haunted as a youth.
However, like Haring, Morris’ earliest influences were comic books and animation. When he was three-and-a-half-years-old, he fell off some monkey bars and broke his femur (thigh bone). He was put in a full body cast and could only move his arms. “My parents used to give me crayons and paper to draw, so I would sit in front of the TV all the time and draw,” Morris says. “I remember drawing superheroes. I was that little [kid] who was always drawing in my little drawing world. I loved collecting comic books, particularly those drawn by Stan Lee, which is funny because later we became good friends.”
But, unlike most comic book fiends, Morris also went to the nearby Carnegie Museum of Art once a week. He was aware of Warhol while growing up, but was less influenced by him than by artworks with vibrant colors and the precise work of etching such as that of 16th-century German artist and engraver Albrecht Dürer. “I used to study his etchings and wanted to emulate them,” Morris says. “So, that’s why my art has the look of etchings mixed with comic book line art and primary colors. My palettes and my color choices have changed, but it still has that very defined style. I love the precision and [Dürer’s] technique and his drawing. From 10-years-old on, I would get whatever books I could on him. They would have some original etchings and I was like, ‘How did he do that?’ My parents bought me a Rapidograph pen and I would draw for hours and hours every day making these minute, intricate little drawings. It’s funny because if you look at my work today, it’s very graphic and simplified.”
After graduating with a Bachelor’s degree from the College of Fine Arts at Carnegie Mellon University in 1986, Morris went to work as an art director in advertising. It was not long before he left to go out on his own and create his distinctive art. “I remember, back in the late ’80s, seeing Starbucks starting to sprout up,” he says. “And [I] thought, ‘Boy, these symbols could really end up meaning something for our culture. If taken in a unique way and shown in a different way, they could spark curiosity among viewers.’” Morris embarked on a series of large paintings of singular objects. People in Pittsburgh began to notice his work.
The ensuing commissions were impressive. Morris designed art for the U.S. Olympic Team, Chanel, Perrier, Rolex, Kellogg’s, Coca-Cola, and AT&T. He created the look for the 76th Academy Awards. Like Haring, who famously created the Pop Shop in New York City so his work could be available to people in any economic strata, Morris' work appears everywhere. On a recent drive down Highway 111, this writer stopped at a red light, glanced over at a coffee shop window, and saw Morris' famous coffee cup stenciled there.
“The art world, of course, is a very unique world, and styles come and go,” Morris says. “I see myself constantly evolving. Over the years, I’ve become known for my pop icons. But then, over time, I did a series of interiors. I’ve been working for over 20 years on portraits. I call them nightstand portraits.”
Morris was approached repeatedly about portraiture. He agreed to do the portrait of a CEO, but was at first stumped while searching for an original approach. “I had gotten calls, but I wanted to do something different,” he says. “Since I was known for painting objects, I thought, ‘Well, what objects most define a person?’ And then it hit me, ‘What’s on someone’s nightstand when they go to bed at night? What objects? And what’s outside their window? What’s around the nightstand?’ I started out doing one of Andy Warhol [called] Andy’s Nightstand. I put a Campbell’s soup can and a Brillo box. I put Studio 54 tickets and his wig and his glasses. I even thought of putting a Polaroid camera with a picture of Marilyn [Monroe] coming out of it. I decided to do a whole series – [including] Keith Haring and Roy Lichtenstein. I did van Gogh and Picasso. I had a show in Dallas and it was a huge success. So, I started to do commissions [for people like] Ralph Lauren. Stan Lee asked me to create one for him. [I did one for] Roberto Clemente’s Foundation. I was asked to create one of Mr. Rogers. Fred Rogers was a good friend of mine from Pittsburgh.” If the Mr. Rogers connection is unexpected, it should be noted that Morris spends almost as much time on philanthropy as he does on his artwork. In fact, he has raised millions of dollars for various charities during the course of his career.
“Way, way back, I used to say that there’s so much negativity in art,” Morris says. “I have a positive perspective on life … or I try to have [one]. I loved Keith Haring and he had his message and I respect it. I have my message and it tends to be very positive. Even when my message is a little more serious, it’s also fun. I guess because I spent a lot of time in children’s hospitals when I was young re-learning to walk, I try to do a lot of giving back to children’s hospitals and foundations. Knowing how a kid feels isolated in a hospital bed, I’ve always thought that art could make a difference. It seemed that my art has always had the ability to make a child smile. Whether it’s a taxi cab or a gumball machine or even a martini glass, it seems that colorful image with energy to it is fun for them.”
These days, Morris finds his work and medium taking new directions. He is working with spray paints and stencils; he is employing huge brush strokes and relic paints. “It’s still pop art, but very contemporary in its look and the nature of it,” he says. “I see myself constantly evolving, and it’s just part of being an artist.”
Morris' work can be seen at The Shops at Thirteen Forty Five during Modernism Week. A special preview will take place on Feb. 12.
