BROOKLYN, New York — Rockland resident Stephen Morrison debuts his first solo exhibition September 4 – October 10, 2021, at the The Invisible Dog, in Brooklyn, New York. An opening reception will be held Sept. 4. 

Morrison, a longtime lover of dogs, had an epiphany two years ago while working on a painted portrait of his childhood pet, according to Invisible Dog, in a news release. He realized he could use dogs as a motif to convey the human condition and arrive at more universal emotions than with people.

He began creating nothing but art with dogs and has used the culmination of these years to build this site specific installation. Morrison has created 16 life sized dog guests attending a debaucherous dinner party and numerous other objects - paintings, food books etc, etc - with his particular dog twist. 

In Dog Show #1: Dinner Party, 15 life sized humanoid dogs revel, sleep, and misbehave at an elegant yet excessive feast reminiscent of the notorious gatherings that Morrison and his partner have historically been known to throw.

Made of clay and plaster, each guest is a variation of the same character, all wearing white button-down shirts, indigo jeans, with deep, glistening eyes, and looks of a desperate search for pleasure.

“Taken together, the collective frenzy is so dizzying, intoxicating, that the surroundings begin to reverberate with the spirit of the bacchanal,” said Invisible Dog, in a news release.

As if part of a mass hallucination, dog faces appear in the artist’s painted renditions of master works hanging on the walls and emerge from the lifelike clay food on the table.

“Some of the protagonists of Dog Show #1: The Dinner Party seem inebriated,” said the release.

One dog guzzles wine, one with white powder on his nostril passes along a rolled up bill, and another has mysteriously passed out. Other dogs, such as the one hanging from the chandelier and the ones draped in spaghetti have an air of comic naïveté.

“It is as if a good party is for getting along and having a nice time, while a great party –– this party –– is a needed catharsis,” said Invisible Dog. “Never has it been more true that people have an unexpressed animal side, desperate for release. We’ve been confined for too long.”

This exhibition is co-presented with French Institute Alliance Française FIAF and is part of Armory Show VIP Program

Stephen Morrison was born in Maine in 1991. He earned his BFA from the Laguna College of Art and attended Yale Norfolk and the New York Studio Residency Program. His work has been exhibited in numerous group shows, most recently at Eve Leibe Gallery curated by Lauren Powell, Ethan Cohen Gallery, The Museum of the Dog, and the Re:Art Show curated by Peter Clough.