Researching Keith Morrison

Morrison has had a significant career as a writer also, having published in many periodicals and museum catalogues. His 1979 article "Art Criticism: A Pan-African Point of View" (Pub. New Art Examiner) is widely considered a landmark theory of abstraction by African American artists. His book "Art in Washington and Its Afro-American Presence: 1940-1970" (Stephenson Press, 1985) is regarded as the seminal exploration of that period and place in American art history. Among his many other publications are: "African American visual Aesthetics" (Smithsonian, Press 1996); "Pin-pricked Deities: The Art of Joyce Scott" (Baltimore Museum, 2000; Keith Anthony Morrison is also a notable curator, having organized exhibitions in Cuba, the USA and his native Jamaica. He represented Jamaica as an artist in the 2001 Venice Biennale. In 2008 he represented the USA as critic to the Shanghai Biennale. Morrison served as Dean of Tyler School of Art; Temple University, Philadelphia; Dean for the College of Creative Arts, San Francisco State University; Dean for Academic Affairs, San Francisco Art Institute, and Dean for the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Maryland, College Park, where he was previously Professor and Chair of the Art Department. He was also Distinguished Visiting Artist/Scholar at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Previously he was Associate Dean and Associate Professor, University of Illinois, Chicago; Art Department Chair, DePaul University; and Assistant Professor of Art at Fisk University. Morrison studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he received a BFA in 1963, and MFA in 1965. Keith Morrison, a book written by art historian Dr. Rene Ater, was published by Pomegranate Press in 2004. More information may be found elsewhere on the web, including museum and university websites, and at www.keithmorrison.com