Seek My Face - Shaun Morris
Published February 19, 2008 in news
In 2007, Multistory and Sandwell Partnership, through the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund, commissioned artist Shaun Morris to complete 25 portrait paintings of people who live and work in West Bromwich. The exhibition, titled Seek My Face, is open to the public from Monday 18 February to Friday 22 February at West Bromwich Town Hall.
The selection of portraits on show provides a sense of the ‘local community’ in West Bromwich. Multistory and Shaun Morris hope that the residents of the town, and Sandwell as a whole, will come to view the portraits and will recognise their friends, neighbours, or even a part of themselves, in the people that have been painted.
Talking about the project and his work, Shaun Morris said: “I first painted about West Bromwich, my hometown, its people and places, as a student in 1988 and, in one way or another, I continued to paint about it for the next 10 years. This unique project has allowed me to find the ‘long way home’ that I have been seeking. Meeting the huge variety of people I have met over the last year has been an enormous privilege. As well as all of the ‘identities’ I have been given the opportunity to present, the project has allowed me to find anew my own identity and relationship to West Bromwich, both artistically and personally”.
Garry Morris, Arts Manager at Sandwell MBC said: “Shaun Morris’s ‘Seek my Face’ is a life time work. It is a series of honest portraits by the West Brom lad about his West Brom people. We see people both as individuals and members of communities. We can all see ourselves in it. It should be contemplated, celebrated and enjoyed for its diversity and vitality. It is good and fitting that West Bromwich Town Hall exhibits its own to its own. Shaun has done good!”
Seek My Face has been developed and delivered by Multistory, a community arts organisation that engages communities, organisations and artists in Sandwell, the Black Country, the region and nationally through creative approaches to learning, health and regeneration. Seek My Face is funded by the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund and was commissioned by Sandwell Council’s Town Teams division.
Click here to download a PDF of the Seek My Face project leaflet.
For further information contact Multistory on 0121 525 6861 or info@multistory.org.uk
The picture gallery below contains images from the Seek My Face exhibition launch on Saturday 16 February 2008.
