Burton Morris unveils heart-themed art to aid LA’s fire recovery efforts
All proceeds from the sale of the prints go to the Los Angeles Fire Department and Wilshire Boulevard Temple Wildfire Relief Fund to support fire victims and first responders.
Pittsburgh-born pop artist Burton Morris has created a special heart-themed print to raise funds for the recovery of fire-ravaged Los Angeles — the city he has called home for the past 20 years.
The signed prints, which feature a red heart, sell for $150, with 100% of the proceeds going to the Los Angeles Fire Department and Wilshire Boulevard Temple Wildfire Relief Fund to support fire victims and first responders, Morris said.
Although he did not lose the Cheviot Hills home he shares with his wife, Sara, and their three daughters, or his Santa Monica studio, many of the family’s friends suffered immeasurable losses, said Morris, who described the destruction as catastrophic.
Besides offering victims clothing and other assistance, Morris and his wife, who also is his business manager, wanted to help on a broader scale.
The obvious means was with art.
“I wanted to design something simple that would resonate,” said Morris, who brainstormed with Sara and their eldest daughter Ava, 15, before deciding on a heart because it symbolizes resilience and hope. He titled the print “Love LA.”
Renowned for his bold, graphic depiction of iconic objects, Morris chose fire-engine red for the heart, which is surrounded by his signature energy marks, on a silver-grey background. “I wanted to keep the tone somber yet positive,” he said.
The computer-aided design is being reproduced as an open edition 12-inch-by-12-inch pigment print on archival paper.
Eventually, Morris plans to make an acrylic painting of the piece.
The prints have been selling well, he said, including in Pittsburgh, where he maintains strong ties.
Morris opened his eponymous studios in 1990 and began making his small post-pop icons into large-scale paintings, using his background in advertising, he said, to blur the lines between high and low art.
In 1990, Absolut Vodka chose his work to represent Pennsylvania in its Absolut Statehood campaign, and showcased it alongside legendary Pennsylvania pop artists Andy Warhol and Keith Haring, Morris said.
In 1994, his paintings debuted on the set of the hit NBC sitcom “Friends,” which helped establish Morris’s art in contemporary pop culture.
He eventually moved to the West Coast.
“After 40 years in Pittsburgh I felt that I needed a change,” he said. “As an artist I wanted to keep expanding my vision whether in New York, London or L.A. I chose L.A. because my sister Stacey lived there and it felt like a second home.”
It is where he met his future wife — fellow native Pittsburgher Sara Firestone — soon after he arrived. Her parents, Nathan and Debbie Firestone, live in Pittsburgh. Morris was awarded an honorary doctorate in fine arts at Chatham University last year.
He will design the art for the 2025 JCC Maccabi Games to be held on the University of Pittsburgh campus this summer, adding to an extensive portfolio that includes artwork for the 76th Academy Awards, the 2004 Summer Olympics, 2006 MLB All-Star Game in Pittsburgh, 38th Montreux Jazz Festival, 2010 FIFA World Cup Soccer and 2016 U.S. Open.
Corporations such as H. J. Heinz, Microsoft, Rolex, Coca-Cola, Chanel, Perrier, Kellogg’s, Ford Motors, Warner Brothers and AT&T have commissioned original artworks by Morris, and collectors include Oprah Winfrey, John Travolta, Brad Pitt and former President Barack Obama.
Morris has used his art to raise money for charities worldwide but none of the magnitude of the fire, so close to home.
He recalled that when he drove to Santa Monica to check on his studio he could see, from a distance, flames and smoke in Malibu. “What was crazy is how the fire came down from Palisades straight to Malibu and burned for a five-mile stretch along Pacific Coast Highway,” he said. “Incredible homes were just gone.”
About 40 families affiliated with Wilshire Boulevard Temple, where the Morrises worship, lost their homes, he said, and the process of rebuilding is now underway.
“Our temple’s relief fund is amazing and the Jewish community in L. A. is strong.”
He also praised firefighters and first responders.
“LA Love” is how he is doing his part, he said, noting that his print has generated thousands of dollars.
“I was raised to give back and I have always done it through my art,” he said. “It means more now than ever.”
The prints can be found at burtonmorriscollection.com. PJC
Deborah Weisberg is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.
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