Michael Morgan

Studio portrait, Cornell University, 2025. Photo: Yun Hsiang Wang Michael Morgan (b. 1992, Syosset, Long Island) is an artist and curator whose work spans painting, sculpture, collage, and assemblage. Raised in a conservative suburb of Long Island, Morgan’s early experiences navigating his sexuality within a community at odds with his identity profoundly shaped his artistic voice. Exploring identity, loss, LGBTQ history, environmental issues, and societal division, his practice often draws attention to overlooked histories and underrepresented voices, including a project honoring Christine Jorgensen, the pioneering transgender figure who grew up in his hometown. Morgan earned his B.A. in Environmental Sciences from Northwestern University in 2014. Following the passing of his father, he shifted his focus from a legal career toward art and art education. He went on to graduate from Columbia University with a second bachelor’s degree in visual arts. While at Columbia, he was also a graphic designer at the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, a finalist for the 2020 Elie Wiesel Prize in Ethics for his writings on environmental theory and art, and inducted into the academic honor society, Phi Beta Kappa. From 2024 – 2026, Morgan pursued his Master of Fine Arts in Creative Visual Arts at Cornell University. He curated Magnum O-Pspsps at Cornell University, a large-scale exhibition featuring over 40 artists that received coverage in Hyperallergic and Art Spiel. Morgan’s research has also been supported by a grant from the Cornell Council for the Arts. Morgan has exhibited work at Sotheby’s, the Rema Hort Mann Foundation, Columbia University, Cornell University, Roberson Museum, the Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts and Sciences, Ely Center of Contemporary Art, and Ortega y Gasset Projects. He is the curator of Deus Ex Bark-ina at the Ely Center of Contemporary Art and will be an artist-in-residence at the Wassaic Project in fall 2026. Michael Morgan, If a Tree Falls, Oil on canvas, 2024, 30 by 40 inches, Image Courtesy of Artist Kati Gegenheimer, Mars at the Door, Oil on linen, 24 by 36 inches, 2024, Image Courtesy of Artist Michael Ashkin, Dog of War, Acrylic and charcoal on paper, 1990, Image Courtesy of Artist Emilie Louise Gossiaux, True Love Will Find You in the End, Drawing, 23 by 17.4 inches, 2021, Image Courtesy of Artist