FEATURED EXHIBITION: “THE ART OF FRIENDS”
“The Art of Friends”, an exhibition by Burton Morris in association with Warner Bros Inc., pays tribute to the artist’s creative contributions to the television show that became a pop culture phenomenon. The show debuted at Taglialatella Galleries in Chelsea, New York City, September, 2019, celebrating the show’s 25th anniversary.
Since Friends premiered in September, 1994, more than a dozen of Morris’ original pop art paintings and designs were featured on set in the colorful Central Perk coffee shop throughout the sitcom’s ten seasons. Now, twenty-five years later, the Artist reimagines pop icons like the steaming Coffee Cup, Statue of Liberty, King Kong and Uncle Sam, which became an integral part of the world of Friends. The millions of fans generated through the admiration of the show, therefore, directly associated the bold, bright aesthetic of Morris’ artwork with the characters, set and storylines of the beloved series.
“The Art of Friends” exhibition aims to honor the influential presence of Burton Morris’ artwork in more than seventy episodes throughout the long-enduring series. Morris remembers the chance beginnings of his relationship with the iconic series, when his sister called him from California to say she saw an actor on a new television show called Friends wearing a tee shirt featuring his artwork of a big hitter baseball player. “The person wearing the tee shirt happened to be David Schwimmer (Ross), who, I was later told, grabbed the shirt from a staff member right before filming the scene and wore it during the taping of the third episode,” recalls Morris. “Call it luck or good timing, but the next day I made a call to Warner Brothers Studios and was able to reach Kevin Bright, one of the creators of the show.”
Over the course of its many seasons Friends became a universally loved television show, which continues to inspire generations of viewers. As the show continued to blossom, so too did Morris’ art career, gaining fans from around the world in-part through the continued exposure afforded to him by the series’ wide-reaching influence.
The exhibition displays many of the readily familiar images hung on the Friends’ set along with new works inspired by the show itself, including original paintings, prints and multi-dimensional works.
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