Pol morton

“get well”

September 5 - October 5, 2024

New York City: 41 Orchard Street

Olympia is thrilled to announce “Get Well,” Pol Morton’s first solo exhibition with the gallery. Morton works across assemblage, photo documentation, painting and sculpture with a deeply diaristic relationship to materials and composition.

In “Get Well,” Morton challenges conventional notions of recovery—inhabiting canvases with images and objects from their journey through doctor visits and the everyday realities of living with chronic illness and gender dysphoria. Cane/Can (2024) symbolizes Morton’s path of relearning how to walk following an emergency bunionectomy that left screws in their foot. The repeated cane motif represents freedom and the transition from immobility to movement. IAMTRANS (2024) reflects on the importance of trusting one’s own gender-affirming journey. By emphasizing the relationship between queerness and their lifelong care of their unreliable body, Morton captures what is dually visible and unobserved.

Protecting materials is a crucial aspect of Morton’s work. Each physical element—whether it be thread, sequins, a balloon, or a kn95 mask—is meticulously coated in archival PVA glue or a thin layer of resin. Morton’s careful attention to material preservation mirrors their ongoing relationship to physical fragility.

Memory, particularly how it relates to image-making, is foundational to Morton’s process. Physical history, especially pain and visceral sensations, are hard to remember in retrospect. For Morton, the idea of "getting well" is an illusion. The human condition is a continuous, non-linear journey, similar to the ever-shifting process of gender discovery and affirmation. Through mapping, tracing, and photography, Morton captures realities which are often challenging to visually articulate beyond physical scarring.

**Pol Morton**, *Get Well*, 2024, Oil, “Get Well” balloon, hand-sewn sequin patches, kn95 mask, fibers, resin, notions on canvas, 60 x 54 x 2 in (152.4 x 137.2 x 5.1 cm)

Pol Morton is a chronically ill non-binary artist making assemblage paintings and sculptures about queerness, transness, and disability. Born in Palo Alto, California, they received their BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore (2009) and their MFA from Hunter College in New York City (2022). Selected exhibitions include: Swivel Gallery (Brooklyn, NY, 2024); White Columns (New York, NY, 2023); Storage (New York, NY, 2023); and Klaus von Nichtssagend (New York, NY, 2023). Morton is currently a Monira Foundation resident at Mana Contemporary (Jersey City, NJ, 2023-2024). Their work has been featured in Hyperallergic, The New York Times, and Observer.