John Meirion Morris Explained

Birth Date:14 March 1936
Birth Place:Llanuwchllyn, Wales
Occupation:Sculptor

John Meirion Morris (14 March 1936[1] – 18 September 2020) was a Welsh sculptor.[2]

Morris was born in Llanuwchllyn, near Bala, Gwynedd, where his parents kept a shop. He studied at Liverpool College of Art and later taught the subject at Llanidloes. In 1966, he began a period as a lecturer at Kumasi University in Ghana, returning to Wales two years later to lecture at Aberystwyth University.[3]  

In 1985, he obtained his M.Phil. for research into Celtic La Tène art, and he subsequently returned to his home town to work as a sculptor.[4]

His works included the design and model for the proposed Tryweryn monument[5] and a bronze bust of Ray Gravell at the BBC studios in Cardiff. A retrospective exhibition of his work was hosted by the National Library of Wales in 2009.[6]

One of his sculptures, Pieta, commemorates his son Dylan, who died in 2002 of a brain tumour.[7]

Morris died, aged 84, in 2020, survived by his wife Gwawr and two children.[3]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: CV for John Merion Morris. www.johnmeirionmorris.org.
  2. Web site: BBC - Wales Arts: Visions at Oriel Ynys Môn. Laura. Chamberlain. www.bbc.co.uk.
  3. Web site: Tryweryn monument sculptor John Meirion Morris dies age 84. Nation Cymru. 21 September 2020.
  4. Web site: Art in Wales. https://web.archive.org/web/20101205024114/http://artinwales.250x.com/ArtistsMor.htm. dead. 5 December 2010.
  5. Web site: John Meirion Morris. https://web.archive.org/web/20110402020421/http://www.johnmeirionmorris.org/trewerynE.asp. dead. 2 April 2011.
  6. Web site: National Library of Wales. https://web.archive.org/web/20121218093810/http://www.llgc.org.uk/index.php?id=1513&no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=2106&cHash=983916caa4edab2aecaeade5c43f8415. dead . 18 December 2012.
  7. Web site: John Meirion Morris, from Llanuwchllyn, was known throughout Wales for his busts of some of Wales' most recognisable faces. 22 September 2020. Denbighshire Free Press. Arron Evans. 26 November 2021.