SARAH MORRIS - URBAN PORTRAITS

Since the mid-1990s, Sarah Morris’ (U.K., 1967) portraits of American metropolises have garnered international acclaim. In both painting and film, Morris has explored the ways in which architecture and the urban environment reflect power dynamics and shape human interaction. In all of her films, Midtown (New York), AM/PM (Las Vegas), Capital (Washington D.C.), Miami and Los Angeles, she gives her attention to the special character of these places. Because of their particular cultural, commercial, and political configurations, the cities’ appearances differ markedly. Morris treats each city as a self-referential system, creating a montage of scenes from everyday life, distinctive architectural features, and media images. Her exploration of the urban environment offers not only a multitude of seductive city images, but at the same time tries to uncover the meanings hidden below the seemingly neutral, artificial surface.

Midtown,1998, 9’30”, 16 mm to video, colour, sound.
AM/PM,1999, 12’36”, 16 mm to video, colour, sound.
Capital, 2000, 18’18”, 16 mm to video, colour, sound.
Miami, 2002, 27’30”, 35 mm to video, colour, sound.
Los Angeles, 2004, 26’12”, 35 mm to video, colour, sound.

The Ecran d’Art series is a monthly screening of artists’ film and/or video jointly organised by argos and Cinema Arenberg, in collaboration with La Cambre.