The Women (Madame Yevonde. Madame Yevonde as Harlequin, 1923–1925), 2023
Oil and wax on linen over panel
19.5" x 24"
Poudres de Lanvin (Zeniba), 2023
Oil on linen
116” x 90”
Poudres de Lanvin (Yubaba), 2023
Oil on linen
116” x 90”
L'autre Commande Féminine de Bonbons Incendiés de Rubis
Sarah (daughter plant), Rachel (mochi), Ingrid (fury), Carmen (criminelle), 2022
four eau de toilettes in porcelain display, glass flacons, pigmented concrete, resin, spray atomizers, cotton batting, silk ribbon, marabou feathers
Perfume bottles developed in collaboration with Matt Joynt and COURTESAN
Porcelain display developed with support from Ike Floor and GnarWare Workshop
Produced in collaboration with Shannon Bool for Musée de la Fraise, Berlin, Germany, 2022
Sarah (daughter plant)
In Louisiana where Morris grew up, strawberries are a growing $8.7 million industry, celebrated with annual festivals and field trips for school children. Sarah draws from very personal childhood memories of the fruit picked and eaten directly from the field. A wobble between sweetness and tartness, sun warmth, green as well as the flush of red fruit. Directly juicy.
Rachel (mochi)
Qualities of camp, artifice, dress up, and frivolity are conjured with Rachel, which addresses the long traditions of strawberry applied to confectionary uses. Inspired by mochi balls, milkshakes, and artificially flavored candies, Rachel compliments a strawberry accord with fluffy heliotrope and vanilla, milk and butter extracts, honey, and touches of blood orange and raspberry.
Ingrid (fury)
Distortion, deception, and successions of signals aimed at manipulating perception through appearance and smell, with a nod to Cukor’s 1944 thriller starring Ingrid Bergman, Ingrid is a strawberry set aflame, smoldering among toasted spices and incense. Opoponax, frankincense, and myrrh, cardamom, coriander, clove, as well as several types of pepper that register more floral and fruity than hot and spicy, are brought together as a fiery bouquet in which strawberry is situated. Smoky vetiver and benzoin finish off the blend, suggesting the fruit as a radiant ember.
Carmen (criminelle)
The most experimental of the group, Carmen is a strawberry born of both flora and fauna. Hyraceum and an aldehyde derived from cumin—which shares many chemical attributes with the scent of human sweat—are among the materials used to suggest a bodily landscape in which languishing fruit occurs. The sun ripened sweet rot smell of immortelle coaxes Carmen toward a state of gentle, masticated decay. Issuing from these collapsed berries are the distinctly metallic aspects associated with blood. Carmen is suggestive of a crime scene, even one invented in personal fantasy, centered on bloodied fruit.
The Women (Grete Stern. Botella del Mar (Sueño No. 5), for Idilio Magazine, 1945), 2023
Oil on linen over panel
19.4" x 24"
Untitled (Two Inch Stripes) #10, 1985, 2023
Casein on mahogany
24” x 20”
Romulus and Remus, 1995, 2023
Acrylic on two mahogany panels
Each panel 28” x 21”
The Women (Grete Stern. Sueños de Ajedrez (No. 109), for Idilio Magazine, 1948), 2023
Oil on linen over panel
30" x 23"
Untitled (Two Inch Stripes) #6, 1986, 2023
Casein on mahogany
24” x 20”
The Postscript, 2022
13ml eau de toilette, fluted glass atomizer, inkjet prints on laid paper, foil embossed satin ribbon, paper coffret
Perfumes gifted to exhibiting artists and gallery; subsequent open edition blended by hand to order
Fragrance notes: iris, violet, persian ‘sweetie’ rose, damp magazines, bittering hops, rum ether, scales from butterfly wings, carrot seed,
curatorial correspondences, cacao dusted bonbons (in a green room) (in a lavender lavender room), licorice, musks
+
Company Brewing, The Green Gallery, and Matt Morris. The Postscript, 2022
8oz dark saison, 9% abv,
with notes of orris root, violet, barley, yeast, hops, raspberry
Baba Yaga, 2021–2023
Hand blended eau de parfum, 30ml
Glass flacon, pigmented concrete, resin, spray atomizer
Perfume bottle developed in collaboration with Matt Joynt and COURTESAN
Fragrance notes: saltwater taffy, vetiver, elemi, patchouli, Siberian rhododendron, swamp witch
The Women (Barbara Yoshida. Beauty and the Beast: Six Beauties —
Untitled #714, 1992, in Collaboration by Petah Coyne and Irene Hultman,
Artists Space, New York, NY, May 24-25, 1992), 2023
Encaustic and antique dyed and glazed straw millinery applique on linen over panel
23" x 16"
Eve Kills God and Doubts Her, 2020
Petah Coyne Above and Beneath the Skin. Authors Douglas Dreishpoon, Nancy Princenthal, Eleanor Harvey.
Buffalo: Albany-Know Art Gallery, 2005, found in the closet of the artist’s father six months after his death,
antique velvet ribbons, embroidery floss, jeweler’s wire, nail varnish, pale pink artificial tree
Dimensions variable
The Women (‘Harley’s Holiday,’ Batman: The Animated Series. Dir Kevin Altieri, Written by Paul Dini and Jean MacCurdy. Air date: October 15, 1994), 2022
Oil on Belgian linen over poplar panel
12” x 16”
The Women (Dita in Distress, 1999, Dir Christina Faust.
starring Dita von Teese, 87 min) – Lez Ice Cream Parlour, 2023
Encaustic, satin silk ribbons, rhinestones, on Belgian linen over poplar panel
12” x 16”
The Women (Dita in Distress, 1999, Dir Christina Faust.
starring Dita von Teese, 87 min) – Blush Flower Grid, 2021
Encaustic, antique silk and velvet millinery appliqués,
strawberry glycidate aromachemical on Belgian linen over poplar panel
12” x 16”
The Women (Dita in Distress, 1999, Dir Christina Faust.
starring Dita von Teese, 87 min), 2021
Encaustic, antique silk and velvet millinery appliqués,
strawberry glycidate aromachemical on Belgian linen over poplar panel
12” x 16”
The Women (Dita in Distress, 1999, Dir Christina Faust.
starring Dita von Teese, 87 min) – Stettheimer Strokes, 2021
Oil on Belgian linen over poplar panel, 12” x 16”
The Women (Dita in Distress, 1999, Dir Christina Faust.
starring Dita von Teese, 87 min) – Japanese paper flowers, 2021
Encaustic, antique Japanese paper flowers, strawberry glycidate aromachemical on Belgian linen over poplar panel, 12” x 16”
The Women (Dita in Distress, 1999, Dir Christina Faust.
starring Dita von Teese, 87 min), 2021
Oil on Belgian linen over poplar panel, 12” x 16”
Lured, 1947, Dir Douglas Sirk.
starring Lucille Ball, 102 min), 2022
Oil and wax on Belgian linen over poplar panel, 12” x 16”
The Women (Laura Schawelka. Detail of Untitled (Floor), 2019, TENDER, fiebach, minninger, 2021
Oil on linen over panel
Panel fabricated by Kazuki Sabastián Guzman
27 1/2” x 19 5/8”
The Women (Florence Henri. Jeanne Lanvin Perfume (Advertising Photograph), 1929, 2021
Oil on linen over panel
Panel fabricated by Kazuki Sabastián Guzman_28 6/8in x 22 6/8 in
Predator, 2019–20
Oil and mica on linen over panel
Panel and canvas fabricated by Kazuki Sabastián Guzmán and Eric Ruschman
71 7/8” x 47 7/8”
Predator 2, 2019–20
Oil on linen over panel
Panel and canvas fabricated by Kazuki Sabastián Guzmán and Eric Ruschman
71 7/8” x 47 7/8”
Predators, 2019–20
Oil on linen over panel
Panel and canvas fabricated by Kazuki Sabastián Guzmán and Eric Ruschman
71 7/8” x 47 7/8”
The Predator, 2019–20
Oil on linen over panel
Panel and canvas fabricated by Kazuki Sabastián Guzmán and Eric Ruschman
71 7/8” x 47 7/8”
The Return of the Gorgon Sylvia (from sex cop captivity), 2018-19
Oil on linen over aluminum and poplar panel
Panel fabricated by Andrew Tyson
23" x 48" x 3/4"
One night a cloud passed over the moon, 2019
Oil on linen over aluminum and poplar panel
Panel fabricated by Andrew Tyson
46" x 48" x 3/4"
Paint me some black angels now, 2020–ongoing
Soft pastel on paper
The title of these works is a lyric from a ballad protesting racial discrimination written in 1948 by legendary Mexican actor and singer Pedro Infante. It was immortalized in a rendition in English by Eartha Kitt.
The image in these works references a cosmetic rice powder advertisement that appeared on the cover of a 1929 issue of Le Sourire magazine.
These drawings are made out of adoration and love for the many Black femme people who have been my role models, inspirations, and guides, and out of concern for the history of the ways race and gender have been represented by white artists historically.
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT:
Baton Peintures (For and After Marcia Hafif), 2018
Digital print on ruched satin; cut glass; dried flower petals;
Feminité du Bois eau de parfum, designed for Shiseido by Pierre Bourdon, Serge Lutens, and Christopher Sheldrake in 1992
Baton My First Slide Lecture After the 2016 Presidential Election, Part I, 2018
Digital print on ruched satin
Baton Bearer of the Rose (Sarah Bastress, Lynda Benglis, Louise Fishman, Angela Dufresne, Angela Davis Fegan, Magalie Guérin, Harmony Hammond, Roni Horn, Dorrie Lane, Agnes Martin, Luis Mejico, Ayanah Moor, Carrie Moyer, Ulrike Müller, Zoe Nelson, Alex Peyton-Levine, Puppies Puppies, Lisi Raskin, Erika Rothenberg, Amy Sillman, Joan Snyder, Florine Stettheimer, Ruby Thorkelson, Millie Wilson, Molly Zuckerman-Hartung), 2018
Digital print on ruched satin
Pretty Soldier, 2016
Digital print on ruched satin
Installation view of Large Check paintings, 2017
Oil on oak, six panels, each 20 1/4" x 6 1/2"
LEFT TO RIGHT:
Untitled (Two Inch Stripes #7), 1986, 2016,
casein on mahogany, 24" x 20"
Untitled (Two Inch Stripes) #12, 1986, 2016,
casein on mahogany, 24" x 20"
Thin Stripe #12, 1986, 2016,
casein on mahogany, 24" x 20"
Untitled (Two Inch Stripes), 1986, 2016,
casein on mahogany, 24" x 20"
Have You Seen This Boy?, 2018
Flyer distributed on street posts in Chicago and on Internet social media platforms, dimensions variable
Matt Morris: Splitsville smells like irises, 2018
Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Brooklyn, NY
Installation view, including works by Christopher Backs, Lise Haller Baggesen, Rashayla Marie Brown, Angela Davis Fegan, Alejandro Jiménez Flores, Lee Godie, Kelly Lloyd, James Morris, Aay Preston Myint, Alan Reid, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, and Clara Ursitti.
Fagnes Martin, 2015
Watercolor and colored pencil on linen on panel
12” x 16”
Other Otter, 2014
Oil and wax on linen on panel
12” x 16”
jouissance, 2015
oil on linen on panel
11.75" x 16.25"
Matt Morris. Advanced Potions, 2019
Perfumes, family, potions, essences, spells, elixirs, chosen family, tinctures, anointing oils, casein paint medium, friendships, social networks, velvet, foam
Display fabricated by Christopher Lee Hare
Image courtesy of the DePaul Art Museum
1. Twelve anointing oils that Matt Morris’ father, Butch Morris, received as a gift six months before he died in June 2018. In the 1980s, Butch’s Baptist church split over disagreements about whether fragrant anointing oils used for prayer was doctrinally sound. He and his family joined a new church where the use of these oils was integral to religious practices.
2. Catalina Ouyang. death drive joy ride elixir assembled by Matt Morris based on a recipe that Ouyang's mother, Jie Li, inherited from her own parents. E jiao (donkey hide gelatin), Cabernet Savignon, rock sugar, chrysanthemum, hibiscus, noble dendrobium flowers, hawthorn berries, cordyceps mushrooms, white fungus, ginseng, ginger, dried jujubes, shan zha pian (hawthorn candies), rosemary, lychee jelly
3. Michael J. Morris. Love spell, 2018. Patchouli, almond, musk, vanilla, cinnamon. Formula based on spell in Phyllis Curott’s The Love Spell: An Erotic Memoir of Spiritual Awakening. New York: Gotham Books, 2005.
4. Josh Dihle. Casein paint medium, hand-mixed March 2019
Cottage cheese, water, ammonia
5. Babs Forever Yours perfume bottle, ca. 1930s, New York
6. Rhonda Wheatley. Cure Bottle for self-misconception.
Brings one’s consciousness into soul-level awareness of the self, 2019
Found perfume bottle, pink sand, pink Himalayan salt, lavender, helichrysum flowers, calendula flowers, moss, other dried flower petals.
7. Kiam Marcelo Junio / Mahal Healing Arts. Personalized aromatherapy blend gifted to the artist, December 2018
Camellia Seed (Camellia oleifera), Jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis), Baobab (Adansonia digitata), Grapefruit (Citrus paradisi), French Lavender (Lavendula angustifolia officinalis), Co-distilled Neroli and Petitgrain (Citrus aurantium var. amara), Frankincense (Boswellia serrata), Cypress (Cupressus sempervirens), Australian Sandalwood (Santalum spicatum), Immortelle (Helichrysum italicum), Atlas Cedarwood (Cedrus atlantica), Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), Gardenia-Agarwood Attar (Gardenia jasminoides, Aquilaria malaccensis), pyrite, amethyst.
8. Dori Midnight. Boundaries in a Bottle.
Witchcrafted with essences of yarrow, spider full moon, rosemary, echinacea, cedar, black tourmaline, citrine, smoky quartz, snowflake, obsidian, stone circle and salt. Essential oils of pine and cedar. Provides radiant protection, clearing, and grounding.
Dori Midnight practices community-based intuitive healing that weaves plant and stone medicine, ancestral and queer magic, and justice work.
9. Liz Moores. Angelique, Eau de Parfum for Papillon Artisan Perfumes, 2014
Fragrance notes: Iris Pallida, Osmanthus, French mimosa, White champac, Orris, Virginian cedarwood, Frankincense
The window in Matt Morris’ childhood bedroom in Baton Rouge, Louisiana opened onto a flowerbed that contained an abundance of irises and an osmanthus tree his mother planted (also known as the sweet olive tree).
ground floor perfumery, 2014
latex, acrylic on gallery wall, 96" x 144"
Installation view of The Perfect Kiss (QQ)* *questioning, queer, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH, 2015
Foreground: James Lee Byars’The Rose Table of Perfect, 1989, 3,333 red roses, Styrofoam
Large Check: 7, 1987, 2016,
casein on mahogany, 24" x 20"
Large Check: 5, 1987, 2016,
casein on mahogany, 24" x 20"
Is that a Holiday?, 2015
oil on linen on panel
12” x 16”
Installation view of Matt Morris paintings + Andy Warhol polaroids, 2017
Three One on Ones, curated by Magalie Guérin
McAninch Arts Center, Glen Ellyn, IL
Installation view of Matt Morris paintings + Andy Warhol polaroids, 2017
Three One on Ones, curated by Magalie Guérin
McAninch Arts Center, Glen Ellyn, IL
Sisters, 2016–ongoing
Oil, acrylic, and mixed media on canvas and panel
Selection of paintings of paintings by Florine Stettheimer
Sisters, 2016–ongoing
Oil, acrylic, and mixed media on canvas and panel
Selection of paintings of paintings by Florine Stettheimer
Sisters, 2016–ongoing
Oil, acrylic, and mixed media on canvas and panel
Selection of paintings of paintings by Florine Stettheimer
Sisters, 2016–ongoing
Oil, acrylic, and mixed media on canvas and panel
Selection of paintings of paintings by Florine Stettheimer
I’ll be wearing ribbons down my Ben this bamf, 2017
Photograph made in Obst on March 23, 2017,
with former gallery co-director Ben Regozin
Inkjet print
Truth or Dare, 2017
Pocket knife given to the artist by his paternal grandfather, Thierry Mugler silk wool jacket, plastic landscape rock
The Sorceress, 2015
Red dress sewn by the artist's twin, Michael J. Morris, as costuming for a dance entitled Shades of the Edged Existence which Michael choreographed and presented in 2007, 94" in diameter
The White Queen, 2015
Custom harness and collar commissioned by Matt Morris, designed and created by Randall Hill for Dan Sullivan, co-director of The Franklin. Dan wears the harness during the opening reception of Finocchio, after which point it is displayed in the gallery. Following the close of the exhibition, Dan receives the harness and collar as gifts from the artist.
LEFT TO RIGHT:
Cristobal Balenciaga. Evening coat, ca. 1960, Pale pink silk shantung gazar
The Ohio State University Historic Costume and Textiles Collection
James Lee Byars. Pink silk tail, 1970, pink silk
Collection of Michael Lowe and Kimberly Klosterman
I’ll be wearing ribbons down my back this summer, 2015
Photograph made in the Contemporary Arts Center on May 4, 2015 with preparator Reid Radcliffe
Inkjet print
matt james, 2013
On April 8, 2013, the artist and James Geier became friends. James lent the photograph Man Ray made with Marcel Duchamp, to the artist.
Man Ray
Polaroid Photograph of Marcel Duchamp in Blond Wig, c. 1950s
15.5" x 12.75" framed. 3.5" x 2.5" unframed.
Collection Mr. and Mrs. James Geier, Chicago, IL
Lise Haller Baggesen
Refusenik at the Office, Chicago, November 2017, 2017
digital color print
Included in Matt Morris: Splitsville smells like irises, 2018
Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Brooklyn, NY
Matt Morris: Splitsville smells like irises, 2018
Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Brooklyn, NY
Installation view, including works by Christopher Backs, Lise Haller Baggesen, Rashayla Marie Brown, Angela Davis Fegan, Alejandro Jiménez Flores, Lee Godie, Kelly Lloyd, James Morris, Aay Preston Myint, Alan Reid, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, and Clara Ursitti.
The Just Dessert, 2017
Limited edition Eau de Parfum in recovered Devon milk glass
Fragrance notes: sugared violet, marshmallow, fizz, powder, last bites, root of orris, roof of mouth, heavy cream, jasmine, labdanum, dried petals, yeast, benzoin, vanilla, musk, dust, residue of text works written for the perfume by Reid Drake, Kelsey Harrison, Evan Kleekamp, and Rhonda Wheatley
Matt Morris. archive VI, 2015
All of the vases from Morris’ personal collection
Matt Morris. archive VI, 2015
All of the vases from Morris’ personal collection
FROM LEFT:
Nick Hill, Model’s Changing Room, Painting Studio Fourth Floor North, 2017
Parfum, vial
Fragrance notes: Neroli, lily, celery seed, Saint John’s Wort, jasmine, immortelle, palo santo, labdanum, vetiver, sandalwood, vanilla, soft musk
Tony the Guard, Freight Elevator, 2017
Parufm, vial
Fragrance notes: Sweat, milk, toasted grain, toffee, grease, locker room, labdanum, synthetic ambergris, cedar, civet, musk
Alex Schempp, Lower Level Lavatory, 2017
Parfum, vial
Fragrance notes: Apricot, hedione, cherry blossom, body, sugar, pear, citrus, ylang ylang, fenugreek, hay, tuberose, vetiver, synthetics, powdery musk
A Soldier, a Magician, and Two Figures Watching a Burning Skull, 2016
Oil on linen on three panels, text on lithograph edition, digitally printed satin, sequins, wood, satin cord, flaming skull wine bottle holder, 2014 Barbera d’Alder Viola Wine Cellars
Installation view at Cherry | Lucic. Photography by Cristin Norine.
A Soldier, a Magician, and Two Figures Watching a Burning Skull, 2016 (detail view)
Oil on linen on three panels, text on lithograph edition, digitally printed satin, sequins, wood, satin cord, flaming skull wine bottle holder, 2014 Barbera d’Alder Viola Wine Cellars
Installation view at Cherry | Lucic. Photography by Cristin Norine.
The Good Enough Kiss, 2014
Iridescent watercolor on Gaylord archival tissue paper, five sheets
The Good Enough Kiss, 2014, (detail view)
Iridescent watercolor on Gaylord archival tissue paper, five sheets
Hysteria, 2015
Ruched pink chiffon curtain
Bâton Violet Révoltant, 2013/2018
Ruched satin