'Highway Anxiety: Recent Paintings By Shaun Morris' At The Moseley Exchange, Birmingham

I’m a little late with this, but luckily, there are still a few weeks to act on it.  I’ve featured the work of my friend, and periodic co-conspirator, Shaun Morris here before, and note with interest that he’s currently giving his splendid nocturnal HGV paintings another outing.

 'Highway Anxiety: Recent Paintings By Shaun Morris' The Moseley Exchange,
Birmingham, December 2017

Regular visitors here will recognise some of the images currently showcased on Shaun’s blog from my posts about his 2016 ‘The Lie Of The Land’ exhibition at Artrix, Bromsgrove, and our own shared ‘A Minor Place’ show (with Andrew Smith), in Studely, Warwickshire, later the same year.  This time round, Shaun is exhibiting seven of them under the title ‘Highway Anxiety’ at The Moseley Exchange, creative co-working space, in Birmingham.

Shaun Morris, 'Cargo', Oil On Canvas, 2015

I’ve written my reflections on this work at some length already, so will simply refer the curious to my previous posts (see links above).  What does impress me this time round is Shaun’s diligence and persistence in continuing to get his work out there into the world.  Whilst my own occasional forays into exhibiting have been largely positive experiences, I can’t claim that there is any concerted rhythm or routine to them.  Shaun’s dynamism in this regard just demonstrates that, whilst one’s greatest enthusiasm will generally be reserved for one’s most recent work, or for that currently in hand - it’s also perfectly valid to regard one’s older work as an exhibit-able resource too.  If one believes in the work from past years, and is happy to stand by it – then of course, it makes sense to keep exposing it to view in different contexts.

Shaun Morris, 'Night Trucking', Oil On Canvas, 2015

This is perhaps another one of those hurdles one needs to get over in the attempt to becoming a ‘serious artist’, or perhaps rather – to taking oneself more serious as such.  It’s definitely the sort of lesson I’d do well to start learning more, I feel – not least after the relatively inward-looking trudge of the last year.

'Highway Anxiety: Recent Paintings By Shaun Morris', The Moseley Exchange,
Birmingham, December 2107

Anyway, I’d encourage anyone interested in Shaun’s work (or potentially so), to give these pieces a look - should you find yourself in the Moseley area.  Birmingham’s a dynamic place at the best of times, and Mosley is one of its more happening suburbs.  It offers plenty of other attractions, and enjoyable places to hang out, so you’ve no real excuse not to - have you?  If nothing else, Shaun is an expert manipulator of oil paint.  For all their resonances regarding motif and imagery, there’s no real substitute for seeing his paintings for real - if for no other reason than to remind oneself of the genuine pleasures of fluid media combining with proper brushwork.


'Highway Anxiety: Recent Paintings By Shaun Morris', can be viewed until 5 February 2018, at: The Moseley Exchange, 149-153 Ancestor Road, Moseley, Birmingham B13 8JP.