About Morpho

Morpho Gallery 2004-2021

Morpho’s owner and longtime art collector David Leigh took a hiatus from his full-time culinary career to pursue additional creative outlets. The result is a part commercial, part studio, and part creative garden space. In June 2004, Leigh opened Morpho Gallery in a storefront in Chicago’s Bowmanville neighborhood. Never heard of Bowmanville? Once just a quiet residential pocket, it now boasts a close-knit community of art related businesses pioneered by Leigh, Morpho Gallery’s owner/director.

Leigh also is an antique dealer, operating a booth at the Blue Star Antique Pavilion in Saugatuck, Michigan, and has a gourmet catering company, Lakeshore Catering in Chicago.

The covid outbreak of 2020 has had another effect on the gallery with it now focusing on a lucrative business selling classic vinyl LP records online and as a retail stand alone shop open to the public. http://www.discogs.com/seller/morphogallery

Upon entering the gallery, Morpho’s multifarious spirit immediately pops. Every inch of the space is brimming with art, and classic rock plays in the background. Morpho shows have included various media—etchings, small sculptures, framed architectural drawings, paintings, mobiles, and jewelry. The artwork even bubbles onto the sidewalk in front of the gallery. The garden functions as a raw green space filled with oddities some anonymously placed by passersby—an ever-evolving project. Leigh has always been inspired by both antique and contemporary processes of printmaking; he was set in motion by Anchor Graphics (and long time friend/artist Rick Edward Smith), a not-for-profit fine art press, that is now an integral program in the Art + Design Department at Columbia College, Chicago. Leigh’s particular fascination with etching and lithography permeates through his private art collection and the artists he exhibits at Morpho Gallery. Leigh’s collection includes Henri Toulouse-Lautrec lithographs, J.J. Granville illustrations, Le Rire magazine covers, and even botanical prints.

Exhibiting artists at Morpho include Steven Hazard, David Alan Sisk, and Elizabeth Ockwell, all artists that share Morpho’s philosophy of form. Hazard’s painstakingly detailed etchings exemplify fantastical allegories of imagination and industry. David Sisk’s paintings juxtapose amorphous forms with vibrant pigments and Elizabeth Ockwell, a former teacher at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, creates intricate architectural watercolor and etched images of some of the most famous architectural gems worldwide.

In addition to exhibiting mid-career artists, Morpho Gallery also provides a rich program of special events, and is host to the annual “Emerging Artist’s Month” that allows less well-known artists to display their work. Other events at Morpho include wine tasting, glass blowing demonstrations, fashion shows, and bluegrass performances.

Morpho Gallery is also home to the Morpho record shop.

Come stop by during our open hours.

from ABBA to ZZ Top

classic rock, jazz, blues, folk

We are a multiple purpose event space and gallery that exhibits local artists, has musical performances and had a room dedicated to buying and selling vinyl records, lps and 45’s.

We carry a multitude of music genres of music, from ABBA to ZAPPA, bluegrass, country, indie, punk, thrash, metal, classic rock, jazz, blues, exotic, beefcake, movie sound tracks, Classical to some very rare not often seen Private labels.

We have expanded our vinyl room to the entire space and now carry several thousand records.