JULIA MORGANHO - BEAUTY MEETS RESTRAINT
Large, often geometric surfaces, a reduced and finely nuanced choice of colors and, at first glance, seemingly wild applications of paint... This is what characterizes Julia Morganho's work. In her paintings, beauty meets restraint.
Her works - mostly medium-sized and large formats on canvas - are characterized by a very economical - almost simple - composition. Reduced to the essentials, Morganho plays with forms and a carefully applied color palette. Her abstract expressionism is not lavish, but rather minimalist in approach.
This is fitting when you consider that the Hamburg-based artist studied product design as well as art. Having grown up in an environment influenced by music and design, Julia Morganho uses the interplay of grand gesture and simple effect. However, she is not interested in the smooth, design-oriented presentation, but rather in the break that can arise through contrasts.
COLOUR, LIGHT AND COMPOSITION IN THEIR PUREST FORM
"I am attracted by the unfinished, the unexpected and also the incongruous - that is the source of inspiration that brings me to painting. I work very intuitively. Sometimes I have the picture and the colors in my head for a long time, and then it takes the right moment for it to transfer from there to the canvas," she reveals when asked how her compositions are created. "Music also plays a big role. It helps me to turn the many abstract thoughts I have into reality."
Fundamentally, Morganho's works are about combining strength and tranquillity. Similar to looking at clouds, it is the constantly changing shapes and structures that make her paintings so special. "I'm interested in the energy that an image can release. It's nice when I see that I can trigger emotions in the viewer without them having to understand or explain it." She recently showed that she succeeds in this brilliantly when she bathed the rooms of a former nuclear bunker in her hometown of Hamburg in brilliant white from floor to ceiling, just to make her works stand out even more dramatically: Color, light and composition in their purest form.
Julia Morganho is currently working on numerous other projects, including a solo show in Hamburg and further exhibitions in Switzerland and France..
(Text by Christian Pfaff)
Artistic career
Born 1981 in Hamburg, Germany.
2002 Studies, industrial/ product design at the University of Fine Arts, Hamburg (HFBK), pre-diploma with Anne Marr, Professor of Textile Design, Glen Oliver Löw, Professor of Product Design; Ralph Sommer, Professor of Concept Design
2004 Studies, Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK), specialization Trends and Identity, diploma with Katharina Tietze, Professor Trends & Identity - Department of Fine Arts & Design
2009 Foundation of 'Studio The Kids of Love' (Label with focus on screen printing); Sold by Einzigart Selected Design, Zurich and Sevensisters, Basel
2010 Release of 'Hansestadt Zürich', independent art project and design label
2012 Art Basel Pop-up Shop 'Studio The Kids of Love'
2013-2015 Product & Textile Design, Cologne
since 2016 Free artistic work, Hamburg
For inquiries or collaboration proposals, please feel free to contact me.
