President of Pixar Studios Jim Morris Visits Scottsdale
Old Town Scottsdale Tilt Gallery hosts “Closed on Sunday,” an exhibition showcasing photographs of contemporary urban landscapes by Jim Morris. The show is on view through March 31, but the gallery will keep representing the artist locally afterward.
President of Pixar Animation Studios, Morris runs all of the company’s creative development, production and operations. He has overseen all feature films and short form productions at the studio for the last 12 years, including the Academy Award-winning films Inside Out, Brave, Up, Toy Story 3 and Ratatouille.
Jim Morris, Argentina, 2017, chromogenic print
He has also produced Pixar’s Academy Award-winning feature Wall-E, for which he was awarded Producer of the Year in Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures from the Producer’s Guild of America.
Prior to joining Pixar, Morris held a range of key positions for 17 years in various divisions of Lucasfilm Ltd. He served as president of Lucas Digital Ltd., and managed its three divisions, Industrial Light & Magic, Skywalker Sound and Lucasfilm Animation. With Morris’ oversight, ILM created the groundbreaking, Academy Award-winning visual effects in Jurassic Park, Death Becomes Her, Terminator 2 and Forrest Gump.
Producer, director, writer and executive, Morris has worn many hats in the entertainment industry. He began his career as a still photographer, however, and continues to do fine art photography, focusing on modern city landscapes.
“I have long been profoundly struck by the moments of calm and beauty I encounter in the urban landscapes I pass through. And I am intrigued that glimpses of a place I have never seen before can trigger some deep sense of memory and emotion – sometimes wistful, sometimes playful, sometimes haunting,” says Morris. “I consider myself lucky when I find those places and can capture a sense of those feelings and emotions in my compositions.”
On Thurs., March 22, at 7 p.m., Morris will speak at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art to give guests a behind-the-scenes breakdown of the creative, technical and production process Pixar used to create the film Inside Out.
An artist reception at Tilt Gallery will follow from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. during Scottsdale’s Gold Palette ArtWalk. Morris will be available for questions, conversation and book signing.
Closed on Sunday
Through March 31
Thurs., March 22, 7 p.m., Behind-the-Scenes @SMoCA: Jim Morris, Pixar Animation Studios
Thurs., March 22, 8:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m., artist reception at Tilt Gallery
Tilt Gallery, 7077 E. Main St., Number 14, Scottsdale
For more information, visit tiltgallery.com.
