Malcolm Morley is best known for his oil paintings but this exhibition concentrates on his watercolours. Watercolour is for him a more private way of working, but it has often provided a starting point for both his oil paintings and his sculptures. Morley has always been excited by the technique of watercolour and this exhibition gives us a chance to admire these works in their own right.
Morley has painted in many different ways with a variety of media. In the late 1950s he made linear, black and white abstract paintings. In the mid-1960s when his works were termed PhotoRealist, his goal was to make his hand-painted pictures look like photographs. In the 1970s he experimented with film. Since 1979 he has adopted the practice of using drawings and watercolours as the model for his works in oil paint.
In 1984 Morley was awarded the first Turner Prize which was established by the Patrons of New Art.
