Sarah Morris

White Cube, London

Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2000

"For me, the paintings are not depictions of space, although you could possibly view them as that. They become some other form of space. They’re not virtual space, because a painting is a built thing, obviously. I subscribe to that Frank Stella notion that what you see is what you see." (Sarah Morris, quoted in Taylor Dafoe, "Sarah Morris Explains Why Nothing Is Off Limits in Her New Paintings and Films," Artnet News, 23 May 2019, online)

Morris began her career making graphic paintings that adapted the dramatic, emotive language used in newspaper and advertising taglines. Since the mid-1990s, she has been making abstract paintings and films to investigate what she describes as “urban, social and bureaucratic typologies.” Her works, inspired by different cities, are derived from close inspection of architectural details combined with a critical sensitivity to the psychology of places and their key protagonists.

MGM Grand  is part of the Las Vegas series, which depicts the complex layers of the uncanny city, from the bright colored lights that dress the famous hotels and casinos to the mysteriousness of its inhabitants on the city’s winding roads. The shapes and tones used in this series are mostly reminiscent of the giant billboards that cover Las Vegas’ corporate buildings but have no other use than to advertise themselves. In the Las Vegas paintings, executed between 1998 and 2001, Morris both expands and distills her abstract compositions, and in the complementary film, AM/PM 1999, night images of the Rio hotel’s red and blue lights are combined. 

In MGM Grand, Morris deploys her traditional hard-edge painting technique using household gloss paint on square canvases. Jagged, puzzle-like forms are rendered in bright colors reminiscent of Las Vegas MGM Grand’s facade to create a vivid tableau evoking the corporate power of this entertainment city. Through references to architectural motifs or urbans vistas, Sarah Morris cultivates a unique and emotive visual language that captivates her audience.