The Artistic Practice of Ree Morton
Ree Morton was an American visual artist who worked in a variety of mediums, including sculpture, drawing, and installation. Her practice often involved the use of everyday decorative forms, such as curtains, ruffles, and swags, and she described her work as being light and ironic on serious subjects without frivolity. Her sculptures frequently utilized a multiplicity of materials, incorporating painting, real and crafted objects, and both natural and artificial materials. Morton’s work often demonstrated an interest in poetry, language, and semiotics.
In her installation Bake Sale (1974), she created a playful interrelationship of objects featuring a comically low table covered with cakes and pastries against a wall of Celastic bows. Another significant work, Something in the Wind, was an installation of over one hundred hand-sewn flags, each featuring a first name and an associated drawing, displayed on the schooner Lettie G. Howard at the South Street Seaport Museum in New York.
Residencies and Public Works
During a residency at Artpark in Lewiston, New York, Morton created works that engaged with the landscape and the history of the site. In Regarding Landscape, she decorated a wall with arches, drapery, roses, and streamers, and glued paintings of the landscape onto surrounding rocks. Her piece The Maid of the Mist involved a thirty-five-foot yellow ladder decorated with Celastic ribbons and roses, alongside two life preservers decorated with flowers and streamers.
Morton's artistic legacy is reflected in several museum exhibitions and collections, including:
- The Museum of Modern Art, New York
- The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
- The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
- The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid
- The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
