It is always exciting to see a well-established photographer take a left turn into new territory. Photographic artist Abelardo Morell has done just that with a joyful new series, Flowers for Lisa: A Delirium of Photographic Invention. The project began when Abelardo gave his wife a photograph of flowers for her birthday–an object that would be a lasting reminder of his love for her. That photograph began a journey into the splendor of floral worlds, into the deliciousness of color, fragility, and beauty allowing the artist to explore “one of the most familiar of artistic subjects, the flower, and through a series of optical and painterly interventions creates images that are at once beautiful to look at and subtly surreal.”
Flowers for Lisa: A Delirium of Photographic Invention has recently been published by Abrams; releasing on October 16, 2018. This large scale tribute to imagination and creativity features 100 images and a lively conversation between art writer Lawrence Weschler and Morell, notes by the photographer that shed light on the techniques and inspirations behind his images, and an afterword by Lisa McElaney (the Lisa in the book’s title) that explores the intimate partnership that gave rise to this groundbreaking body of work.
