Don Morris

Don Morris was born in New Orleans in 1935 and obtained his doctorate degree at Louisiana State University. His art is in numerous collections and museums in the United States, Europe and Asia.

Best known for his “Our Heroes" series, Don Morris' constructions with comic books recall memories of the Pop Art of the sixties when Andy Warhol reigned supreme.

Inspired by the modern works of Armand, Cesar and Chamberlain, he embarked on a similar path with his series of the art of deconstruction. Using comic books as the medium, Morris deconstructs and artistically reinvents the comic book into multi-dimensional colorful and textural pieces of art. From a distance, one sees a mass of bright colors and waves of patterns. As one traverses around the art, intriguing and surprising shadows are seen. Upon closer inspection, a story unfolds as the images of super heroes and characters of the comic book can be seen flying, struggling, and climbing in small fragments and vignettes. Word bubbles from the comic book text are carefully selected and are clearly visible throughout the pieces.

Morris named his comic construction series “Searching for Heroes.” This theme evolved from man’s fascination for "super heroes" who fight the evils and wrong-doing in a world of indifference and chaos. In our culture, this theme exists not only in comic books but also in early radio adventure series and old Western movies. The popularity of this theme continues today in the remake of such movies as Batman, Spiderman and Captain America, to name a few. “There are a multitude of heroes in every facet of life," said Morris. "Many are well known to us all, however in reality, the vast majority of current day heroes operate incognito as the common man, who diligently strives to help their fellow man and society on a daily basis. They do their work quietly in a dedicated fashion without fanfare, reward, or recognition. These are the real heroes in the world and they live inside us all.”