UBC Library presents Remembering Two Local Legends: Michael Morris & Rodney Graham, a new exhibition on display at the Music, Art and Architecture (MAA) Library. Featuring materials from MAA Library collections and the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery archives, and curated by Caitlin Lindsay, Art Librarian at the MAA Library, this exhibition celebrates late local artists Michael Morris and Rodney Graham.
While both Graham and Morris left an indelible mark on the West Coast art scene through their interdisciplinary practice, their artistic talent was known well beyond the local scale. This exhibition celebrates two artists whose creative practices shifted conversations about performance, collaboration, and the relationship between mediums.
Caitlin Lindsay, Art Librarian at the MAA Library and curator of the exhibition, pictured next to two display cases.
After hearing of Graham’s passing in this past October 2022, Lindsey reached out to the Belkin Gallery to see what materials they might have available to loan for an exhibition at the library.
“As this was happening, I also heard of the passing of Michael Morris, another major figure in the local arts community with a very robust archival collection held at the Belkin,” says Lindsey. “I am incredibly grateful for the Belkin’s willingness to lend items from their amazing archives, and hope this exhibition will be a way to not only highlight library materials, but also make connections between the many different research resources available through UBC.”
Visit the exhibition in the Level 3 foyer of the MAA Library in the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, until August 18, 2023. Check the website to see branch hours of operation.
Michael Morris (1942 – 2022)
Michael Morris, a figurehead in the development of the Vancouver art scene in the 1960’s and 1970’s, had a varied artistic career as a painter, curator, photographer, performance artist and educator. Morris was renowned for his collaborative artistic practice, which included the founding of Image Bank with artist Vincent Trasov, and co-founding Western Front, one of Canada’s first artist-run centers. Morris had close ties to UBC’s Fine Arts Gallery (now the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery), which included a 1969 Concrete Poetry show and the 1971 Image Bank Postcard exhibition.
Rodney Graham (1949-2022)
Rodney Graham, known as one of Canada’s most innovative artists, had a wide-ranging career as a photo-conceptualist, performance artist, graphic artist, sculptor, and musician. Graham began studying Art History at UBC, later moving his studies to Simon Fraser University. Graham’s works were exhibited widely, including a number of exhibitions held at UBC’s Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery; this included works like School of Velocity and Parsifal, which saw UBC School of Music students performing sections of the score, and Millennial Time Machine, a public installation on UBC’s campus.
UBC Library would like to thank the Belkin Gallery for the loan and reproduction of archival documents for this exhibition. Special thanks to Anna Tidlund, Jana Tyner and Teresa Sudeyko at the Belkin Gallery. More information on the archival records available through the Belkin Gallery.