Morley is the antithesis of street artists in Los Angeles. Where traditional taggers obscure their name in scrawled script only readable to their own, Morley prints big messages with his large bold lettering. Where most find it cool to be cryptic, Morley shares his wit in complete sentences. Where many street artists prefer anonymity or an empowered alter-ego, Morley includes a plain drawing of his unglamorous self writing each ironic aphorism. His humor veers from self-deprecating to sly, his insight ranges from soul searching to silly.
Morley is so un-street art, he walks around in broad daylight plastering his posters up in the busiest intersections. It was a privilege to document the artist at work, if only to be able to capture the meta moments of the artist putting up art of himself putting up his art.
In this short documentary, Morley explains how he uses hope and humor in efforts to lift the unsuspecting viewer:
Morley will be getting his first ever gallery showcase in a group exhibition of artists at Post No Bills in Venice in the first week of September. At this exhibition Morley will be selling four limited edition prints and an unlimited print for 20 bucks.
John Wellington Ennis is following street art as an emerging form of political speech for his upcoming documentary PAY 2 PLAY.
