Sharp, curious and hilarious, Abe Morell's got the most enviable spark for life and creating, and he does it all with wit and charm. We talk about being Cuban, the role of play in art-making, and his favorite hip hop club in Atlanta. Prepare to be enchanted.

Abelardo Morell was born in Havana, Cuba in 1948. He immigrated to the United States with his parents in 1962.  Morell received his undergraduate degree from Bowdoin College and his MFA from The Yale University School of Art. He has received honorary degrees from Bowdoin College in 1997 and from Lesley University in 2014.

He has published 8 monographs and was included in the second Yoffy Press Triptych, Continuum. He has received a number of awards and grants, which include a Guggenheim fellowship in 1994 and an Infinity Award in Art from ICP in 2011. In November 2017, he received a Lucie Award for achievement in fine art. His work has been collected and shown in many galleries and institutions and nearly 80 museums in the United States and abroad. A retrospective of his work organized jointly by the Art Institute of Chicago, The Getty in Los Angeles and The High Museum in Atlanta closed in May 2014 after a year of travel.