optimistic frame of mind.

The artist’s distinctive sword-like slashes suggesting shards of energy come from his study of woodcut prints. Two of his heroes are Albrecht Durer and Rockwell Kent. Durer used similar hatching in the sixteenth century. Twentieth century American artist Rockwell Kent illustrated books and designed bookplates with such lines. Artists for The New York Review of Books emulated his style in small India ink drawings called “gloomies” in journalistic parlance.

Burton Morris was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1964. Like the late Pop artist Keith Haring, Morris felt an early attraction to Belgian artist Pierre Alechinsky’s paintings that resemble fantastic comic strips. Both artists saw the Belgian’s large exhibition in the International Series at Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, in 1977.

Morris earned his bachelor of fine arts degree at Carnegie Mellon University in 1986 and, during three more years while art directing and doing television commercials, he began developing his post-Pop drawings.

The artist established the Burton Morris Studios in 1990. That year he began making his small post-Pop icons more impressive by enlarging them. He also tightened his brushwork into his present precise style. He would choose one subject per composition to create what he calls “an instant happening” for the viewer.

In his paintings Morris energizes every day images with his unique style. Subjects such as a steaming coffee cup, a swirling martini, and a dancing popcorn box all take on a new life under his paintbrush . These images among many others are now internationally known.

Morris has exhibited his artwork internationally in galleries and museums. He was selected by the International Olympic Committee to create 36 original paintings regarding the spirit of the Olympic Games. The International Olympic Museum hosted a one-man exhibition in Lausanne, Switzerland, during the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

Reaching out to mass audiences, Morris has created signature images for the 76th annual Academy Awards, the 38th Montreux Jazz Festival, The Andre Agassi Foundation, and the 2006 Major League Baseball All- Star Game. In addition, fans of the legendary television sitcom "Friends", were familiar with Morris’ artwork that adorned its set for ten seasons.

His paintings hang in the corporate collections of Warner Bros.Studios, Gallo Winery, Microsoft and H.J. Heinz. He has created murals and installations for The South Shore Plaza, The UPMC Sports Medical Center, and The David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

Morris currently splits his time between homes and studios in both Los Angeles, CA and Pittsburgh, PA.