Dennis Morris (photographer)

portrait of photographer Dennis Morris

Dennis Morris is a British photographer best known for his images of Bob Marley and the Sex Pistols.[1][2] In 1979, he created the logo for the company Public Image Limited and the innovative Metal Box album packaging.[3] He then became Art Director of Island Records[4] and designed album covers for the likes of Linton Kwesi Johnson, Marianne Faithfull (Broken English) and Bob Marley.

In mid-1979 he replaced Don Letts as vocalist of Basement 5, the avant-garde punk rock reggae band. He created their logo, image, photography and graphics and gained a recording contract with Island Records; their albums (Basement 5 - 1965 to 1980 and Basement in Dub) were produced by Martin Hannett.[5] He has held exhibitions worldwide (Sydney Opera House, Laforet Museum, Tokyo,[6] Contact Toronto and in galleries in London, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Stuttgart ...). In June 2005, the Spectrum London gallery had a show of photographs by Morris documenting the daily lives, ceremonies and rituals of the Mowanjum Community Aborigine community.[7] The gallery was blessed by Aboriginal tribe leader, Francis Firebrace, wearing body paint and tribal dress.[7] He was commissioned to show a new body of work at the Today Art Museum in Beijing in 2008 to coincide with the Olympic Cultural programme.[8] A large installation of his punk images (part of the “I am a cliché, Echoes of the Punk Aesthetic” exhibition curated by Emma Lavigne) was shown at the 41st Rencontres d’Arles (France) during the summer of 2010.[9] His photographs have become highly collectable, including one body of work (Southall – a home from home) bought by English Heritage, on permanent display at Gunnersbury Park Museum in London.

In 2013, he collaborated with Shepard Fairey on a new body of work titled S.I.D (Superman Is Dead) and culminating with an exhibition at Subliminal Projects (LA- USA).[10] http://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/15-photos-of-shepard-faireys-superman-is-dead-exhibit-opening-20131216

In April 2014, he exhibited, to critical acclaim, a large collection of his Bob Marley photographs at the Known Gallery in Los Angeles.[11] [12]

Growing Up Black a collection of his photographs from the Black community in Hackney is part of the permanent collection of the Hackney Museum.[13] The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, has acquired some photographs from the Growing Up Black collection.[14] http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/s/staying-power-dennis-morris/

In 2016, the ICA is presenting an exhibition of his design, marketing, art direction and photography of the band Public Image Ltd (PiL).[15]

His photographs have appeared in publications including Rolling Stone, Time##, People magazine, V magazine, GQ##, I-D, Vogue and the Sunday Times.

His work has been used in books such as: Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of the 20th Century, by Greil Marcus, published by Harvard University Press; Century, by Bruce Bernard, published by Phaidon Press; Punk by Steven Colgrave and Chris Sullivan; Rolling Stone: The Complete Covers 1967-1997. He has been the subject of documentaries and TV programmes in the UK and America.

Books

Album sleeves photography and design

Exhibitions

References

  1. ↑ "Marley snapper captures Jamaica's jukebox of music". BBC News. 7 July 2002. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
  2. ↑ "Shooting the Sex Pistols". BBC News. 28 September 1998. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
  3. ↑ metal box stories from John Lydon's public image limited book by Phil Strongman published by Helter Skelter - ISBN 978-1-900924-66-5
  4. ↑ "Destroy: Sex Pistols 1977" The Guardian London 7 June 2002 retrieved 2010-04-21
  5. ↑ http://www.nme.com/artists/basement-5
  6. ↑ http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/event/2004/EBB5
  7. 1 2 "Gallery is blessed by Aborigine", BBC, 6 June 2005. Retrieved 18 January 2010.
  8. ↑ http://en.artron.net/exhibit/zl.php?zlid=7416
  9. ↑ http://www.rencontres-arles.com/A09/C.aspx?VP3=CMS&ID=A09P1155
  10. ↑ Brown, August (23 December 2013). "Sid Vicious and the aesthetics of punk rock". Los Angeles Times.
  11. ↑ http://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/bob-marley-the-stories-behind-17-rare-and-unseen-images-20140325
  12. ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpR06HoVIdc
  13. ↑ http://www.hackney.gov.uk/museum-newsletter-winter-2009.pdf
  14. ↑ http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/s/staying-power-dennis-morris/
  15. 1 2 https://www.ica.org.uk/whats-on/dennis-morris-pil-first-issue-metal-box
  16. ↑ http://www.discogs.com/XTC-White-Music/release/903172
  17. ↑ http://www.discogs.com/Public-Image-Public-Image-First-Issue/release/316501
  18. 1 2 http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2010/jun/10/marianne-faithfull-photograph-dennis-morris
  19. ↑ http://www.discogs.com/LKJ-LKJ-In-Dub/release/159761
  20. ↑ http://www.discogs.com/Simply-Red-Moneys-Too-Tight-To-Mention/release/437893
  21. ↑ http://kontacto.jp/v1/html/?page=events&lang=EN&artistID=8&eventID=95
  22. ↑ http://www.artlinkart.com/en/exhibition/overview/decgwzm/schedule/2008/07
  23. ↑ http://news.hackney.gov.uk/hackney-museum-presents-growing-up-black--a-photographic-exhibition-by-dennis-morris
  24. ↑ http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/event/2011/CE2D.en
  25. ↑ http://www.timnobleandsuewebster.com/dennis_morris_portraits.html
  26. ↑ http://www.timeout.com/los-angeles/art/sid-superman-is-dead
  27. ↑ http://www.juxtapoz.com/photography/dennis-morris-bob-marley-giant-known-gallery-la
  28. ↑ http://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/behind-the-filth-and-the-fury-rarely-seen-sex-pistols-photos-20140821
  29. ↑ http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2015/feb/09/staying-power-photographs-of-black-british-experience-in-pictures

External links

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