Abe Morell

After Mikayla and Jackie's lesson on sculptural books I couldn't stop thinking about an artist who came to the art seminar class several semesters ago when I took the course. His name is Abe Morell.

He is a photographer who was born and raised in Cuba in 1962. His family was exiled to New York City, where they ended up staying. Abe bought his first camera at the age of fifteen, and went to Bowden College for photography. A lot of his early works are focused on quick portraits or action shots in the streets of New York. After getting married Abe’s photography, and life settled down. He began doing longer exposure photographs. He explored water optics, creating dramatic landscapes with household items.

            The works that I found most enticing were Abe’s work with books, especially Alice in Wonderland. These are the pieces that I couldn't stop thinking about during the lesson with books in class. He actually used the books as a landscape for his photos. He cut out the actual characters from the books to tell the story. In his lecture he said he would also be doing Alice in Wonderland Through the Looking Glass soon, which I am looking forward to. It was spectacular how he created so much depth, emotion, and a true story line using only the books from Alice in Wonderland. It was a very interesting way of taking a common art forms – art, and photography, and created a whole new way to express a story.

http://www.edelmangallery.com/morell.htm