A framed artwork by Nyeema Morgan composed of white space on the left and a graphite drawing of a book’s title page on the right with the words Extraordinary Women Themes and Variations partially obscured by gray shading that continues to the bottom of the drawing.

Nyeema Morgan

On This Page

Nyeema Morgan, "Like It Is: Extraordinary Women (Themes and Variations)", 2016. Graphite pencil on paper. 43 x 55 inches. Courtesy of The Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art and the artist. Image credit: Wes Magyar.

 

Aug. 18–Oct. 8, 2021

Art Alliance

 

The Philadelphia Art Alliance of the University of the Arts is pleased to present the first Philadelphia exhibition of works by Nyeema Morgan. 

Nyeema Morgan’s meticulous drawings, sculptures, and installations employ non-identical repetition and unexpected juxtaposition to prompt reflection on the mechanics of representation and its political/social underpinnings and consequences. For the series “Like It Is,” Morgan begins by pulling texts from the library containing the word “extraordinary” in their titles. Upon finding a book cover page presenting significant connotative and typographic interest, Morgan Xeroxes it in various positions. These replications serve as references for 50 by 38-inch graphite drawings that also incorporate incidental traces of the studio environment (shadows of the artist’s shoulder, a lamp, etc.). They are then later used as collage source material. Through manipulation and translation, Morgan correlates the speed of making and the intensity of reading, looking, and thinking; a formal strategy which troubles “ordinary” relationships between image and text (language and vision) while questioning how language mediates experience and how such mediation can be represented visually. The resulting drawings are a tour de force consideration on the use and abuse of categories and sets, of the arbitrary violence of delineating the ordinary from the extraordinary. The viewer must specifically situate herself and recognize their complicity within cultural legacy and transmission.    
 

Our exhibitions are free and open to the public.

two collages by Nyeema Morgan hang in white frames on a white wall. The collages are comprised of mostly abstracted compositions made from grey scale xeroxed pages from books, with some text fragments visible.

Studies for "‘Like It Is’: Extraordinary Togetherness" (Installation view). Courtesy of the artist and University of the Arts.

 

five grey scale collage studies in white frames hang on a white gallery wall. The collages are comprised of mostly abstracted compositions made from greyscale xeroxed pages from books, with some text fragments visible.
Three graphite drawings by Nyeema Morgan hang in white frames on a white wall. Each depicts the title page of a book with some fragmented text, white space, and darker grey shadowed areas included in the compositions.
A framed graphite drawing by Nyeema Morgan depicting the title page of a book with the text upside at the bottom left of the drawing ncluding the book title Extraordinary Tales. The upper right area of the drawing depicts a darker shadowed area.

Top Left: Studies for “‘Like It Is’: Extraordinary Togetherness” (Installation view). Courtesy of the artist and University of the Arts. 

Bottom Left: “Like It Is: Extraordinary Journeys”, 2021, graphite pencil on coventry rag paper, 38 x 50 inches; “Like It Is: Extraordinary People”, 2021, graphite pencil on coventry rag paper, 38 x 50 inches; “Like It Is: Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions”, 2018, graphite pencil on coventry rag paper, 38 x 50 inches. 


Right: “Like It Is: Extraordinary Tales”, 2020, graphite pencil on coventry rag paper, 38 x 50 inches. Courtesy of the artist and University of the Arts.

Gallery
Installation shot of Nyeema Morgan's smaller framed collages hanging on walls in the left and the right of the space and a larger framed graphite drawing hangs above in a gallery a prominent marble fireplace in the center of the photo. The gallery space features white walls and a wooden floor.

I​​nstallation view. Image courtesy of the artist and University of the Arts

 

Installation shot of small greyscale framed collages on the left and right walls of a gallery space with white walls and a wooden floor. A large window in the center of the back wall is flanked by collages on the left and right of the surrounding wall space.

I​​nstallation view. Image courtesy of the artist and University of the Arts

 

Installation shot of Nyeema Morgan's smaller framed collages hanging on white walls throughout a gallery space with white walls, wooden floor and a large window on the left wall. A larger framed graphite drawing hangs above a prominent marble fireplace right of center and the collages continue on the right wall.

I​​nstallation view. Image courtesy of the artist and University of the Arts

two collages by Nyeema Morgan hang in white frames on a white wall. The one on top is portrait oriented and the one below is landscape oriented.The collages are comprised of abstracted compositions made from greyscale xeroxed pages from books, with some text fragments visible.

"Studies for ‘Like It Is’: Extraordinary Togetherness" (Installation view), print paper collages, 8.5 x 11 inches. Image courtesy of the artist and University of the Arts.

four collages by Nyeema Morgan hang in white frames on a white wall. The two collages on the left are portrait oriented and the two on the right are landscape oriented. The collages are comprised of abstract compositions made from greyscale xeroxed pages from books, with some text fragments visible.

"Studies for ‘Like It Is’: Extraordinary Togetherness" (Installation view), print paper collages, 8.5 x 11 inches. Image courtesy of the artist and University of the Arts.

Three graphite drawings by Nyeema Morgan hang in white frames on a white wall. Two hang to the left of a large wooden door in the center of the photograph and the third hangs on the right side. Each depicts the title page of a book with some fragmented text, white space, and darker grey shadowed areas included in the compositions.

Left to right: "Like It Is: Extraordinary Evil", 2021, graphite pencil on coventry rag paper, 38 x 50 inches; "Like It Is: Extraordinary Tales", 2020, graphite pencil on coventry rag paper, 38 x 50 inches; "Like It Is: Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions", 2018, graphite pencil on coventry rag paper, 38 x 50 inches.

 

 

 

two graphite drawings by Nyeema Morgan hang in the alternating wall space between three large wooden framed windows. in white frames on a white wall. Each depicts the title page of a book with some fragmented text, white space, and darker grey shadowed areas included in the compositions.

Left to right: "Like It Is: Extraordinary Endings", 2021, graphite pencil on coventry rag paper, 38 x 50 inches; "Like It Is: Extraordinary Women", 2016, graphite pencil on coventry rag paper, 38 x 50 inches.

 

 

Three graphite drawings by Nyeema Morgan hang in white frames on a white wall to the left of a wide wood framed doorway. Each depicts the title page of a book with some fragmented text, white space, and darker grey shadowed areas included in the compositions.

Left to right: "Like It Is: Extraordinary Journeys", 2021, graphite pencil on coventry rag paper, 38 x 50 inches; "Like It Is: Extraordinary People", 2021, graphite pencil on coventry rag paper, 38 x 50 inches, "Like It Is: Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, No. 2", 2016 graphite pencil on coventry rag paper 38 x 50 inches.

 

A framed graphite drawing by Nyeema Morgan depicting the title page of a book titled Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds. An area along the left side of the drawing depicts a darker shadowed area with other lighter shadows on the right of the drawing.

"Like It Is: Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, No. 2," 2016, graphite pencil on coventry rag paper, 38 x 50 inches.

 

Installation shot of Nyeema Morgan's smaller framed collages hanging on walls in the left and the right of the space and a larger framed graphite drawing hangs above in a gallery a prominent marble fireplace in the center of the photo. The gallery space features white walls and a wooden floor.
Installation shot of small greyscale framed collages on the left and right walls of a gallery space with white walls and a wooden floor. A large window in the center of the back wall is flanked by collages on the left and right of the surrounding wall space.
Installation shot of Nyeema Morgan's smaller framed collages hanging on white walls throughout a gallery space with white walls, wooden floor and a large window on the left wall. A larger framed graphite drawing hangs above a prominent marble fireplace right of center and the collages continue on the right wall.
two collages by Nyeema Morgan hang in white frames on a white wall. The one on top is portrait oriented and the one below is landscape oriented.The collages are comprised of abstracted compositions made from greyscale xeroxed pages from books, with some text fragments visible.
four collages by Nyeema Morgan hang in white frames on a white wall. The two collages on the left are portrait oriented and the two on the right are landscape oriented. The collages are comprised of abstract compositions made from greyscale xeroxed pages from books, with some text fragments visible.
Three graphite drawings by Nyeema Morgan hang in white frames on a white wall. Two hang to the left of a large wooden door in the center of the photograph and the third hangs on the right side. Each depicts the title page of a book with some fragmented text, white space, and darker grey shadowed areas included in the compositions.
two graphite drawings by Nyeema Morgan hang in the alternating wall space between three large wooden framed windows. in white frames on a white wall. Each depicts the title page of a book with some fragmented text, white space, and darker grey shadowed areas included in the compositions.
Three graphite drawings by Nyeema Morgan hang in white frames on a white wall to the left of a wide wood framed doorway. Each depicts the title page of a book with some fragmented text, white space, and darker grey shadowed areas included in the compositions.
A framed graphite drawing by Nyeema Morgan depicting the title page of a book titled Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds. An area along the left side of the drawing depicts a darker shadowed area with other lighter shadows on the right of the drawing.

About the Artist

 

Born in 1977 in Philadelphia, Nyeema Morgan studied at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, earned a B.F.A. from the Cooper Union School of Art, New York in 2000 and an M.F.A. from the California College of the Arts, San Francisco in 2007. She currently lives and works in Chicago.

Morgan’s solo exhibitions include the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder, CO; Grant Wahlquist Gallery, Portland, ME; The Bindery Projects, St. Paul, MN; the Rotunda Gallery/BRIC Arts Media Bklyn, Brooklyn, NY; and Staniar Gallery at Washington & Lee University, Lexington, VA. Her work has been shown in group exhibitions at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, ME; the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY; The Drawing Center, NY; the Studio Museum in Harlem, NY; and Galerie Jeanroch Dard, Paris, FR.

Morgan’s work is in the collections of the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, ME, and the Menil Collection, Houston, TX (in collaboration with William Cordova and Otabenga Jones and Associates). She has participated in residencies at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, ME; Shandaken Projects at Storm King Art Center, New Windsor, NY; the Lower East Side Print Shop, NY; The Drawing Center, NY; and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Workspace Program, NY. She is a recipient of a Painters and Sculptors grant from the Joan Mitchell Foundation and an Art Matters grant.

Morgan has lectured at University of Maine, Orono, ME; School of the Art Institute Chicago, Chicago, IL; Gallery 400, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL; University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN; University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH; Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY; Washington & Lee University, Lexington, VA; The Studio Museum in Harlem, NY; New York University, NY; and Brigham Young University, Provo, UT.

Her work has been reviewed in Artforum, The New Yorker, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal among other publications.