Those entering the exhibition hall of the Herzlia Museum, venue of David Morris’ sculptural exhibit, inevitably step into “dream regions”.The fusion of both “human” and “animal” elements in the figures creates a vision reminiscent of the prophet Ezekial’s chariot, which we have previously encountered only in our dreams. The expression on the “human” faces emphasizes their detachment from our day to day world and underlines their involvement in a dreamlike, remote and ecstatic experience.
A contrast lies in the viewer’s familiarity with each separate component of the sculptures and his inability to identify the strange figures in their entirety.
This gap between the ability to read and interpret the facial expressions and feelings of each one of the artist’s figures, and our wish to share this powerful experience, comprises the very heart of the unidentified area into which we are led by David Morris.
In the Domains of the Dreams there is a connection between the primeval past and the ancient idols and household gods could be used today. We have yet to bridge the emotional and cultural gaps of mysterious lands which induced humanity to embrace ritual vessels capable of inspiring a feeling of security.
Man chose to use figures from the world familiar to him: human shapes, animals and birds which symbolized mighty and unfathomable powers. It is as if the sculptor were saying, “The viewer is able to identify with human- like figures, I use these human-like figures in order to prevent detachment between the viewer and the sculpture”.
Despite this effort, there is still a certain detachment between the familiar and everyday elements and these which are mysterious and secret.
The viewer recognizes-yet does not recognize-the figures, the theme. He wanders among the works, trying to reconcile their uninterpretable experiences with his own world. Is it possible to bridge the paradoxical chasm between the familiar and unfamiliar, the everyday experiences as compared to those inspired in the “Dream Regions”?
Sculptor David Morris classifies his work in groups. Several of these groups are represented in this exhibit: the “Wheels”, the “Birds”, the “Angels” and the “Kettles”, which are intertwined, yet identifiable as separate entities.
The “Kettles” are water urns, a primeval vessel, the primary craftsmanship of any potter or clay sculptor. The water symbolizes Life, a fountainhead of the creation. Since the very beginnings of mankind, water vessels have always been embellished with colors and shapes. This is how man expressed the tremendous importance attributed to water.
David Morris has followed this path, but has taken one step further by abandoning the use of a vessel, thereby rendering it secondary. The element of shape has become central.
The motifs decorating the “Kettles” are human and animal heads. The human faces carry a detached expression. Their mouths gape open in amazement and their eyes (if open) stare out blindly.
In the “Wheels” group, the sculptor places his sculptures on a small platform raised on four wheels, like a children’s toy. The figure sitting on the platform is not that of a child. It is a somewhat reflective adult, who is detached from the “primitive” vehicle upon which he is riding-a tall, unstable, uncomfortable and clumsy type of transport, completely unuseful. What is the man’s connection with this impractical prop? Where is the potential for movement, swiftness and agility generally associated with wheels and vehicles?
Perhaps it is a space wagon of some sort which has brought us a visitor from outer space, a previously unknown celestial angel carrying the unearthly experiences he underwent on his way to earth…
The long, caricature-like noses of the figures featured in “Wheels” enable the viewer’s smooth graduation to the “Birds” group and their beaks…Perhaps we have come full circle to the fountainhead, the beaker, the source from which the water was drawn from the “Kettles”.
What power the sculptor attributes to the phallic organs! Is his intention to amuse the viewer with the sight of a laughable human figure, both ugly and exaggerated in its proportions, whose legs and arms are almost wizened but whose nose is huge?
One of those figures perched upon the “Wheels” has small wings- thereby symbolizing that he has already become one of the “Angels”. He has undergone a wondrous process which is beyond him, and the powerful experience has left its mark on him in a dreamy, entranced expression. His angel’s wings are also bird wings, as is the ornamentation on his head and the “beak” which connects us to the “Birds” series.
The bird represents an important component in the works of David Morris. It alternates in the shape it assumes, from a complete or partially human form to a bird (angel) figure. The beaked birds are always placed near a human form, granting them a spiritual quality. We do not associate these birds with an airy dimension because they are heavy, earthbound creatures unable to fly.
The “Angels”, also equipped with wings, are those able to approach Divinity- to undergo the mystical experience which so affected them and their expression, and then to offer it to us. The “birds” are one level lower and cannot shake off the human element which has adhered to them.
The figures, facial features have been sculpted with a relatively rare delicacy, considering the regular texture of baked clay. The vague eroticism floating above the figures sometimes sharpens into clear allusions, when a phallus-like fish, or a fish- like phallus is exhibited open-mouthed, facing a similarly open- mouthed woman.
Throughout his career as a sculptor, David Morris has been influenced by ancient and new cultures using the same Medium. The association with pre-Columbian art is particularly prominent in the urn bearing a depiction of a woman on the verge of childbirth, much like art from other planes and connotations.
David Morris, a member of Kibbutz Ein Hashofet, succeeds in sweeping us into the “Dream Regions” and in giving us, the viewers of his sculptures, the opportunity to experience the unknown and the unfathomable, to delve into our collective sub-conscious in order to try and understand this old-new message: There is so much that we do not understand.
SHLOMIT HEIGHT
Curator of the Exhibition
The human figure, in all its complexity, has occupied David Morris for many years. His forms look like statues newly extracted from the shelves of a prehistoric museum. At first, the forms look as though they were made on a production line, but a closer look reveals that each character is different and has its own identity.Multiple characters and their spatial relationships represent the complexity of the human community that together forms society.
Group togetherness: a grade school class, a battalion of army troops, kibbutz, family, tribe etc. Each group has its own markers (dress codes, age etc) each group and its unique identity. But when a single individual is separated from the group one discovers its uniqueness.
David Morris’ work reflects the world in which he lives; revolutionary processes of change, togetherness and the striving of the individual to merge with the group. In David’s workshop time stands still, he drinks water from a clay jar- no symbols of a changing (materialistic) society can be found here. He identifies with his sculptures that reflect the human, cultural, universal and classic test of time.
Noga Mendel, Curator
The exhibition consists of 54 human-like clay figures, running/walking, arranged along the walls in a fixed row with all the figures facing in the same direction.This arrangement creates a repetitive rhythm formed by the individual movement of each figure, the varied spaces between them and their different colors.
The figures face in the direction that they run/walk, while some of them worriedly turn to look back. The figures’ facial expressions change from soft-dreamlike to grotesque-absurd.
Body movement is dominant and makes up for the minimum of details. There is no anatomical accuracy other than the eyes drawn on some of the figures and it is often difficult to determine their gender.
The many figures, the relationships between them and the spatial arrangement serve to demonstrate the complexity of human society: the individuals form a family, the family forms a clan,
they in turn form a tribe and so forth.
“Where to” – The name that David Morris chose for the exhibition, stresses the idea that the end is more important than the means. Everyone arrives at the same place.
The opposite Zen approach is that the path and a man’s deeds throughout his life are more important than the final goal.
David Morris uses his sculptures as a means of demonstrating situations around him. It’s a minimalistic schematic sketch of the essence of the human situation.
Curator Tirza Kolton
David Morris and his ceramic sculptures have not received the attention they deserve. Perhaps this is due to the (undeserved) peripheral status of ceramic art as compared to other, “mainline” art forms. In any case, this is good work, endowed with highly developed sensitivity to the raw material from which he organically creates astonishing figures whose juxtapositions border on absurdist humor.These are small statues mounted on easles.????? Whereas such statues are usually constructed from independent units with no necessary affiliation to the surroundings, Morris’ statues tenaciously ignore any chance of being included in sculpture gardens or public spaces. A constructed space is their preferred option.
The sculpted figures, if we can call them so, are hybrids that combine human shapes with animal, tool, or toy figures. These combinations stand out due to his fresh approach, their bizarre humor and Morris’ irrepressible creative powers. They freely vary in style from very modern to archaic and tribal. Here and there, light surrealistic elements can be discerned, as in the figure, “Woman Bird”, sitting astride “Man Elephant”. To a certain degree, this figure resembles the naïve birds of Max Ernst. Others, whose powerful and sensitive expression is generated from their clumsy shapes, are reminiscent of Japanese xxxx sculptures.
This is sculpture that emerges from the very bones in the course of slow, patient and deliberate work. The spectator gets the impression of a cohesive entity cast in a single breath. None of the strange combinations, so winning in their clumsiness, seem “glued” to another, but rather they all seem to flow from the same material substrate. The colorfulness, which looks like an external layer of glaze, is actually produced by mixture applied during the firing process.
The ten works being shown in the exhibit create a gallery of characters taken from some sort of theatrical ceremony. Many of them “move about” on toy platforms, while their wide open mouths and other body parts join in the fun to determine their expressions.
One of the “functional” pieces in the exhibit is the “Woman Teapot”, an anti-classic, flesh-hanging female figure whose body serves as the “pot”, while one arm, which serves as the handle, points behind her back in an agonizing twist, and the other outstretched arm acts as the spout.
Beyond the element of entertainment and the abundant charm, there is a deep connection to the various layers of ceramic history and to other cultures- from China to Latin America. The very ugliness of the bald figure is full of power. Dedicated feminists may take offense, but in his defense it must be said that Morris “abuses” his male figures and innocent objects with a similar degree of irony.
Miriam Izrael
Gallery – Haaretz 1991
A traditional approach to the raw material, together with daring combinations of shapes, characterize the work of the ceramic sculptor, David Morris.His world is populated by mythilogical figures – a kind of private pantheon of gods which derive inspiration from an appreciation of human culture.
David Morris’ “Anthropoids” are creatures of the twentieth century, incorporating ancient cultural heritage, such as the prehistoric clay figures of the “Venus” – the thousands of years old fertility goddess – which became the mental representations of the human figure.
The empty eye sockets of the figures facilitate a dialogue between spirit and material, set in the relationship between the inner hollows and the other layer of fired material.
David Morris’ hybrids, which are reminiscent of familiar figures from the world of pre-Columbian shapes (1,400 BC- 1,500AD), or of Ganash, the Indian god with the trunk of an elephant, and the crocodile face of Anubis, but they are not the result of constraints of tradition or adherence to religious-ritual, or mere copies.
David Morris is undoubtedly exceptional in the field of ceramic sculpture and his uniqueness is expressed in his ability to create an emerging world of ideas and shapes within familiar visual systems.
Yoav Dagon – Curator
Director, Herzalia Musem
1982
