The impact of an artist on an iconic city house

Raymond Morris worked in the City of London before turning back to art, his life-long interest

ALEKK M. SAANDERS

MALAGA.

Friday, 29 April 2022 | Updated 06/05/2022 09:39h.

From childhood, Raymond Morris's primary interest had always been art, which he excelled in. However a lack of security meant that this part of his life was placed on hold. He studied Law and Biology and, in the City of London, Morris started working in finance for international banks and insurance companies.

Eventually, he yearned for a more artisan life, and chose to become a builder and design buildings. It was this that brought him to Malaga.

Here, he bought a house in an iconic district where the picturesque Malagueta meets the exclusive Limonar, a clear example of 19th-century new bourgeois architecture created for British, German and Swiss industrialists who used renowned architects.

Raymond Morris is glad that he acquired a stunning building with huge potential attached to a national monument: a fountain. The Fuente de Reding dates back to the 17th century and it has been reproduced by countless painters, being an inspiration for many local artists.

Such a coincidence brought the British artist to the conclusion that he had to share the space in an artistic environment. Initially the house was purchased to be used as a business, but due to a change of heart and a new direction, Morris chose to develop the "deconstructed installation" into a gallery and home.

The inauguration of the venue for "creative personalities" takes place on 4 May and starts with Morris's own works. Impact is an exhibition of 45 pieces of different media, including oil, acrylic, watercolour and collage dating from 2002 to present.

Influenced by conflict, famine and disease, the bold colours of Morris's palette blend a confrontation of colour and form an explosion of expression, restricted only by size and medium.

His work encompasses the devastation of industrial wasteland and spiritual emptiness of modern consumption.

Beauty is juxtaposed against the barren emptiness of modern society.

This, the "impact" sought by the artist: be free to express yourself, however, wherever, whenever.

Impact, sponsored by Lucas Fox, can be visited at Paseo de Sancha 5, between 5 and 13 May.