In the Gallery: Sarah Morris at White Cube Mason’s Yard | White Cube
Why It Matters
The show demonstrates how contemporary art can expose and challenge entrenched corporate and political power, shaping public discourse and encouraging critical scrutiny of societal structures.
Key Takeaways
- •Show juxtaposes snow leopards with corporate skyscrapers as critique
- •Morris references Cambridge Analytica, Palantir, and BlackRock influences
- •Paintings incorporate logos, matchbook designs, and antenna motifs
- •Artist frames art as trespassing against male‑dominated corporate power
- •Film‑like rapid image sequences map urban power structures
Summary
Sarah Morris’s new White Cube show, "Snow Leopards and Skyscrapers," juxtaposes the elusive snow leopard with towering corporate architecture to interrogate the hidden forces shaping modern urban life.
Morris populates her large‑scale canvases with recognizable symbols—from Cambridge Analytica and Palantir to the Bank of China, Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly, and BlackRock—mixing logos, match‑book designs, elevator banks and antenna motifs. She filmed a rapid‑cut "map" of streets and corporate sites using a nimble news crew, turning the process itself into a visual manifesto.
She declares, "Art is a form of trespassing," and stresses that male‑encoded corporate power operates like a conspiratorial network, urging artists to "talk back" and reimagine a social form beyond these entities.
The exhibition positions contemporary art as a direct critique of corporate influence on elections, healthcare, and finance, prompting viewers to reconsider how visual culture normalizes power and to demand more transparent societal structures.
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