Sarah Morris
Omaggio in Histoire(s) du cinéma at the Locarno Film Festival (2012) Artist in Focus at the Rotterdam International Film Festival Sarah Morris (born 20 June 1967 in Sevenoaks, Kent, England) is an American and British artist. She lives in New York City in the United States.
Sarah Morris

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- Name
- Sarah Morris
- Born
- 20 June 1967
- Birthplace
- Sevenoaks, Kent, England
- Field
- painting, film
- Training
- Brown University Cambridge University
- Awards
- Berlin Prize Fellow (1999–2000) Joan Mitchell Foundation Award (2001)
- Nationality
- United States · United Kingdom
- Occupation
- painter · film director · printmaker · photographer · filmmaker · artist
- Fields
- painting
- Movements
- contemporary art
- Education
- Brown University · University of Cambridge
- Known for
- Hellion Equilibrium
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Omaggio in Histoire(s) du cinéma at the Locarno Film Festival (2012) Artist in Focus at the Rotterdam International Film Festival Sarah Morris (born 20 June 1967 in Sevenoaks, Kent, England) is an American and British artist. She lives in New York City in the United States.
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Educated At · outgoing
Brown University
Organisation
No machine-readable source provided. Own work assumed (based on copyright claims).

Born In · outgoing
London
Place
Pencil sketch by George Henry Harlow, 1814, http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/largerimage.php?mkey=mw05495
Citizen Of · outgoing
United Kingdom
Place
Citizen Of · outgoing
United States
Place
Educated At · outgoing
University of Cambridge
Organisation
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
getty · 500091878 · wikidata · Q276113 · wikipedia · Sarah Morris
In this article
Biography
Biography
Sarah Morris studied at Brown University and University of Cambridge. The recorded working language is English. The field of work recorded is painting. Works named in the authority record are Hellion Equilibrium. Work by Sarah Morris is recorded in the collections of Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Modern Art, Tate, National Gallery of Victoria and Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. Distinctions recorded are Berlin Prize.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Sarah Morris • Born — 20 June 1967 • Birthplace — Sevenoaks, Kent, England • Field — painting, film • Training — Brown University Cambridge University • Awards — Berlin Prize Fellow (1999–2000) Joan Mitchell Foundation Award (2001)
Personal life and education
Personal life and education
Morris was born in Sevenoaks, Kent, in south-east England, on 20 June 1967. She attended Brown University from 1985 to 1989, Cambridge University, and the Independent Study Program of the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1989–90. She was a Berlin Prize fellow at the American Academy in Berlin in 1999–2000; in 2001 she received a Joan Mitchell Foundation painting award. She was married to Liam Gillick.
Work
Work
Morris works in both painting and film, and considers the two to be interconnected. • Illustration — Vitasoy (Hong Kong) 207x152 cm From about 1997 her paintings were geometric Modernist grid designs with flat planes of colour; a related series was of glass-faced skyscrapers with geometric landscape designs reflected in their façades. Among her earlier painting styles were screen-prints reminiscent of Andy Warhol, word-paintings, and paintings of shoes. • Illustration — Robert Towne, 2006. Lever House, Manhattan Morris's films have been characterized as portraits that focus on the psychology of individuals or cities. Her films about cities, like Midtown, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Rio depict urban scenes, capturing the architecture, politics, industry and leisure which define a specific place. Other films describe a place through the viewpoint of an individual, like psychologist Dr. George Sieber describing the terrorist event at the Olympic Stadium in Munich in the film 1972 or the industry politics of Hollywood from the viewpoint of screenwriter and producer in the eponymous film Robert Towne.
Exhibitions
Exhibitions
She has shown internationally, with solo exhibitions at Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin (2001), Palais de Tokyo in Paris (2005), Fondation Beyeler in Basel (2008), Museum für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt (2009), Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna (2009), Musée National Fernand Léger in Biot (2012), M Museum, Leuven, Belgium (2015), Kunsthalle Wein, Vienna, Austria (2016), Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Espoo, Finland (2017), UCCA, Beijing, China (2018), Tai Kwun Contemporary, Hong Kong (2024) Her mid-career retrospective titled "All Systems Fail" traveled to multiple cities and museums in 2023 and 2024 including: Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Germany, Kunstmuseen Krefeld, Germany, Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern, Switzerland and Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, Germany. She has created site-specific works for various institutions including the Lever House, Kunsthalle Bremen in Germany, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen Museum, Düsseldorf, Germany, the lobby of UBS in New York City, the Gloucester Road tube station in London, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Dutch Kills / 39th Ave Subway Station, Ad-Diriyah Biennale in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, St. Louis Lambert International Airport, General Dynamics Headquarters in Reston, Virginia, Tulsa Convention Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Gateway School for Sciences, Queens, New York, and Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, Key Biscayne Community Center, Key Biscayne, Florida. Morris's films have been featured at the following: • Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing (Entire filmography) • Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris (Strange Magic) • Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago (Chicago) • Sotheby's in New York (Points on a Line) • Barbican Centre in London (Beijing, Midtown) • Guggenheim in New York (Midtown, AM/PM, Capital, Miami, Los Angeles) • Centre Pompidou (Midtown, AM/PM, Capital, Miami, Los Angeles) • M+ in Hong Kong (ETC) • Locarno Film Festival, Locarno, Italy (Rio) Tribute
Filmography
Filmography
• Midtown (1998) • AM/PM (1999) • Capital (2000) • Miami (2002) • Los Angeles (2004) • Robert Towne (2006) • 1972 (2008) • Beijing (2008) • Points on a Line (2010) • Chicago (2011) • Rio (2012) • Strange Magic (2014) • Abu Dhabi (2016) • Finite and Infinite Games (2017) • Sakura (2019) • ETC (2024)
Origami lawsuit
Origami lawsuit
In 2011 Morris was sued by a group of six origami artists, including American Robert J. Lang. They alleged that in 24 works (eventually discovered to be 33 or more) in her "Origami" series of paintings Morris had without permission or credit copied their original crease patterns, coloured them, and sold them as "found" or "traditional" designs. The case was settled out of court early in 2013; under the terms of the settlement, the creators of the crease patterns are to be given credit when the works are displayed. List of affected paintings/models • Painting title — Year painted — Square painting edge sizes — Model title — Model composer • Angel — 2009 — 214 cm — Harpy — Jason Ku • Bat — 2007 — 214 cm — Bat — Noboru Miyajima • Black Ant — 2009 — 214 cm — Harvestman (Phalangium) — Manuel Sirgo • Calypte Anna — 2007 — 214 cm — Ruby-throated Hummingbird, opus 389 — Robert J. Lang • 2008 — 289 cm • Cat — 2007 — 53.5 cm — Cat — Noboru Miyajima • 214 cm • Chaser — 2008 — 214 cm — Dragonfly, opus 369 — Robert J. Lang • Clerid Beetle — 2009 — 214 cm — Scorpion (Buthus) — Manuel Sirgo • Crane — 2008 — 214 cm — Dancing Crane, opus 460 — Robert J. Lang • Cuttlefish — 2009 — 214 cm — Sepia — Manuel Sirgo • Dragon — 2007 — 214 cm — KNL Dragon, opus 132 — Robert J. Lang • Falcon — 2007 — 214 cm — Cooper’s Hawk, opus 464 — Robert J. Lang • 2008 — 53.5 cm • Goatfish — 2007 — 152.5 cm — Goatfish, opus 202 — Robert J. Lang • Grasshopper — 2007 — 76.6 cm — Grasshopper, opus 83 — Robert J. Lang • 289 cm • Hercules Beetle — 2007 — 214 cm — Hercules Beetle, opus 271 — Robert J. Lang • June Beetle — 2009 — 214 cm — Cyclommatus metallifer — Nicola Bandoni • Kawasaki Cube — 2008 — 53.5 cm — Kawasaki Cube #1 — Toshikazu Kawasaki • 53.5 cm • 214 cm • 2009 — 289 cm • Leaf Mantis — 2009 — 214 cm — Leaf Mantis — Manuel Sirgo • Lion — 2007 — 214 cm — Lion — Noboru Miyajima • Mommoth — 2007 — 53.5 cm — Mommoth — Noboru Miyajima • 214 cm • Mouse — 2007 — 122 cm — Rat, opus 159 — Robert J. Lang • Night Hawk — 2008 — 214 cm — Stealth Fighter, opus 324 — Robert J. Lang • Night Hunter — 2007 — 214 cm — Night Hunter, opus 469 — Robert J. Lang • Orchis — 2008 — 214 cm — Orchid, opus 392 — Robert J. Lang • Parrot — 2009 — 214 cm — Macaw — Manuel Sirgo • Pegasus — 2007 — 53.5 cm — Pegasus, opus 325 — Robert J. Lang • 214 cm • Praying Mantis — 2007 — 214 cm — Praying Mantis, opus 246 — Robert J. Lang • Rabbit — 2007 — 122 cm — Rabbit, opus 186 — Robert J. Lang • Raccoon Dog — 2007 — 122 cm — Raccoon Dog — Noboru Miyajima • Rhino Beetle — 2008 — 214 cm — Eupatorus gracilicornus, opus 476 — Robert J. Lang • Rockhopper — 2007 — 20.8 cm — Penguin — Noboru Miyajima • 122 cm • 2009 — 289 cm • Swan — 2007 — 122 cm — Swan — Noboru Miyajima • 214 cm • 289 cm • 2008 — 53.5 cm • Tarantula — 2008 — 53.5 cm — Tarantula — Robert J. Lang • 214 cm • Weasel — 2007 — 76.6 cm — Weasel — Noboru Miyajima • 214 cm • 2008 — 122 cm • 289 cm • Wolf — 2007 — 289 cm — Wolf — Noboru Miyajima
Identity
Identity
Sarah Morris is recorded as painter, film director, printmaker, photographer and filmmaker.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1967
Sarah Morris born at London.
2007
Weasel (Origami) is dated 2007.
Other activities
• Americans for the Arts, Member of the Artists Committee
Public collections
Public collections
• Illustration — Kennedy Center (Capital) (2001), National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C. • Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo • Berardo Collection, Sintra, Portugal • Beyeler Foundation, Riehen, Switzerland • British Council, London • Centre d’Art Contemporain, Le Consortium, Dijon • Centre Pompidou, Paris • Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, New York • Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas • DekaBank, Frankfurt am Main • Fondazione Prada, Milan, Italy • Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris • F.R.A.C. Bourgogne, Dijon • F.R.A.C. Poitou-Charentes • Government Art Collection, London • Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York • Hamburger Bahnhof, Museum fur Gegenwart, Berlin • Jumex Museum, Ciudad de Mexico • Kunsthalle Bremen, Bremen • Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg • Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich • Luma Foundation, Arles, France • Miami Art Museum • Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris • Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles • Museum of Modern Art, New York • Museum fur Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt • M+, Hong Kong • Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka • National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C. • National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne • Neue Nationalgalerie im Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin • Saastamoinen Foundation Art Collection • Sammlung DaimlerChrysler, Berlin • Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam • Tate Modern, London • Yale Center for British Art, New Haven • Victoria and Albert Museum, London • UBS Art Collection, New York
Documents and archives
Primary material
Documents and archives
scholarly publication
- Morris, Sarah, Benezit Dictionary of Artists, 2011
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2011
Institutional database
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q276113: Sarah Morris
Scholarly · Wikimedia Foundation
reference work
- “Sarah Morris”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
scholarly publication
Morris, Sarah, Benezit Dictionary of Artists, 2011Crossref registry
Institutional witnessInstitutional database
Wikidata, structured authority record Q276113: Sarah MorrisWikimedia Foundation
Institutional witnessreference work
Secondary witness
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
Sarah Morris received Berlin Prize. Connected to 2 other published records in the VALÉORINE Encyclopedia.
Recognition and collections
Work by Sarah Morris is
Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Modern Art, Tate and National Gallery of Victoria
Within the Encyclopedia
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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