Malcolm Morley

Malcolm Morley was born in north London 7 June 1931 now living in the United States. He studied art first at the Camberwell School of Arts and then at the Royal College of Art 1954-1957. In 1956, he saw an exhibition of contemporary American art at the Tate Gallery, and began to produce paintings in an abstract expressionist style. He also met Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein and, influenced in part by them, changed to a photo-realist style (Morley prefers the phrase super realist). He often used a grid to transfer photographics images (often of ships) from a variety of sources (travel brochures, calendars, old paintings) to canvas as accurately as possible, and became one of the most noted photo-realists. In the 1970s, Morley's work began to be more expressionist, and he began to incorporate collage into his work. Many of his paintings from the mid-70s, such as Train Wreck (1975). In the 1990s he returned again to a more precise photo-realist style, often reproducing images from model aeroplane kits on large canvas. In 1984, Morley won the inaugural Turner Prize.