The Fondation Beyeler is presenting a project by the New York artist Sarah Morris (*1967) in its lower-level exhibition spaces. Morris has executed a new, very long mural (“Black Beetle,” 23.7 x 3.8 meters) that reflects her interest in origami, a Japanese paper-folding technique that originated in China. The work is supplemented by selected paintings from her series “Capital” and “Rings,” begun in 2001 and 2006. In addition, the Fondation plans a program of Morris’s films on New York, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles.

In her paintings and films Morris concerns herself with the structure of architecture and the urban environment. Based on their distinctive features, she creates diagrammatic portraits of large American cities. As this focus implies, Morris’s project enters an interesting visual dialogue with our exhibition “Fernand Léger: Paris – New York.” In his own unique way, Léger too addressed the modern city, the geometry of its architecture, and the rhythms of urban life.