ART on 5th is pleased to announce John Morse: Bits and Pieces, an exhibition of collage work by nationally renowned artist John Morse. These works feature multiple layers of paper strips and fragments, intricately applied to create colorful highlighted, dimensional portraits of historical figures as they typically appear in art and history books. This will be John Morse’s first one-man exhibition in Austin, TX.

Show Dates: Saturday, September 26th through Saturday, October 31st
Opening Reception: Saturday, September 26th 7:00-9:00p.m.

For John Morse, collage is a liberation from the constraints of using realistic color. He manipulates found paper and fashions his imagery with colorful inventiveness. In 1981, Morse started creating monumental portraiture from small bits of discarded paper. Theodore Roosevelt, Groucho Marx, and Albert Einstein among others, continue to be giant personalities in Morse’s hands, but now with a ripped twist. Over the years his colors have migrated from grisaille to bold and brash. Additional subject matters such as a rose, or the Earth from space, are given a unique vitality.