Born April 1st 1976 in Boston, Mass. It is the year of the dragon and a new Aries is born. His mother recalled the day Joe left JFK hospital as a magical day. It rained, it hailed, it snowed, and even the sun came out. Unbeknown to his mother and himself is that Joe will one day be recognized as a talented and successful artist. Soon after birth Joe and his family move to Minnesota.
As early as 7rs old he was accused of tracing pictures out of his workbooks because he could draw the pictures just as well as the illustrators in his books. Those skills lead to his National Art Honor Society Award for excelling at the highest level in art programs in Grade School. Soon after Joe graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Communication Design at St. Paul College of Visuals Arts.
Out of school Joe jumped around the ad business working for firms as an Art Director for Hunt Adkins, and Whitney Morse to name a few. He was also producing his own gallery shows including a show at a famous Prince hangout in Minneapolis known as The Lounge.
Over the years Joe has created artwork for many top-level companies including Yamaha, Leo Burnett, Phillip Morris, Army, and Kelloggs.
Currently Joe Morris is a Senior Art Director for Leo Burnett USA in Chicago, and also works at his home studio in Indiana painting for the next big show or commission. Many of his works have been shown in Chicago’s West Loop galleries as well as the NBC Towers and Leo Burnett building. His latest work has influences of old Chicago theaters, architecture, and the many diverse cultured spots on the trendy strip of Randolph St. in the West Loop of Chicago. The well known Jerry Kleiner designed French restaurant Marche that he lived above for over 2yrs became a launching pad for his large abstract work.
Like the diverse way Mother Nature welcomed Joe on April 1st 1976 so does that reflect in his many interest and influences in his life. He’s a goalie and for fun loves stopping pucks at 80+. Mph. His love of old sitcoms, a guitar player, a writer, motorcycle racer, photographer, and his art combines all kinds of influences including masters like Jackson Pollock, Warhol, Rauschenberg, Matisse, an current artist like Shepard Fairey, David Kinsey and restaurant designer Jerry Kleiner.
If you would like to know more about Joe Morris and his artwork or would like your own Joe Morris work please email him by clicking here.