White Cube Bermondsey presents Sarah Morris’s first solo show in the UK in six years. Featuring paintings, films, a site-specific wall painting as well as the artist’s first sculptural work, the exhibition reflects Morris's interest in networks, typologies, architecture and the city, articulated through colour and geometric abstraction.
Throughout her career, Morris has been drawn on a wide range of subjects, from American corporate identities and graphics, to GPS technologies, mapping and psychology. In her work she explores systems of flow within cities, whether that be production, commuters, pedestrians, vehicles or currencies.
In this exhibition, Morris presents new works from her ‘Sound Graph’ series. Using coordinates of audio recordings as the basis for the works' structure, the resulting rigorous compositions consist of hard-edged, colourful shapes, bars and dots, to create a rhythmic flow which together draw the eye across the surface of the canvas. Words are presented as visual information and speech is transformed into image, evoking volume, movement and encoded data.
Morris also debuts a large-scale wall painting titled Ataraxia, the title of which alludes to a state of extreme calm and tranquillity. This notion is in contrast to the highly anticipatory and adrenaline-fuelled momentum of Morris’s films, including Abu Dhabi (2017) which was commissioned by the Guggenheim, alongside Finite and Infinite Games (2017).
In a departure for the artist, a large sculptural work is displayed in the 9 × 9 × 9 gallery. Made with lacquered modular scientific glass, the work serves to conjure both interior and exterior landscapes, articulating the exhibition space and challenging the perception of the viewer.