Phil Morrell is a landscape artist. However, his world is not one of the serenity of trees and streams, nor people lazily lingering on a beach looking out at the Pacific Ocean. Through his paintings we are immediately thrust into the pulse of the city where angular skyscrapers loom over the aggressive energy propelled by the automobile. Cars prowl on vacant streets, careening into each other, perhaps searching for connection in impact. They travel like a pack of wild wolves, moving together towards the viewer. Headlights become menacing eyes; grill plates, carnivorous teeth. Are they devouring our humanity or laughing at our fascination for vehicles and life in the fast lane? These are questions that Phil Morrell compels us to ponder through his masterful use of paint, color and swerving composition.

Cars become a way for pushing the paint figuratively to enhance his gestural metaphors. In his latest series Angry Cars and Crowded Freeways," Morrell makes us aware of the energy of movement much like the dynamics expressed through the color and form of Italian Futurist or the three dimensional sculptures of Frank Stella. These vehicles only stand grounded when crucified by lampposts and telephone poles, the result of an unexpected encounter. Currently, contemporary icons that we might see from the driver’s seat or window are creeping into the painting: a woman reflected in the side mirror, the Mobil Oil Pegasus released from a wreckage, a fragment of a billboard whizzing by.

I consider my work neo-Expressionist," states the artist. "I do take into account composition and color balance but by and large my work is spontaneous and emotionally driven. When you view the paintings, you almost become a surrealistic extension of the vehicle itself through projection of childhood fantasies and daily experiences."

Originally from Moberly, Missouri, Phil Morrell came West as a child, later studying art under Curtis Otto and John Stuart during the mid-1960s. At this time he began exhibiting nationally, resulting in his first one-man show in Connecticut in 1969. Since then, he has cultivated an international following, which has included such collectors as John Huston, Paul Mazursky, DeWain Valentine, Quarterdeck and Omni Computer Products. Presently, be is exhibiting his most recent body of work in a one man show at the Petersen Automotive Museum of Los Angeles, California.


Nancy Mozur