Rebecca Morris lives and works in Los Angeles. She received her BA from Smith College (1991) and her MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (1994), and she attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (1994). Morris was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship (2008) and has also received awards from the Tiffany Foundation (1999), the Durfee Foundation (2005), Art Matters (1996), and the Illinois Arts Council (1996).

A solo survey exhibition of her paintings was held at the Renaissance Society, Chicago, in 2005. She has also had solo exhibitions at Harris Lieberman, New York; Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin; Karyn Lovegrove Gallery, Los Angeles; Susanne Vielmetter, Los Angeles; the Santa Monica Museum of Art; and Shane Campbell Gallery, Oak Par, Illinois. She has participated in group exhibitions at the Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, Switzerland; the Hessel Art Museum, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Grieder Contemporary, Zurich; Rowley Kennerk Gallery, Chicago; Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York; Midway Contemporary Art, Minneapolis; Participant Inc., New York; and Donald Young Gallery, Chicago. Morris is a professor of painting at Pasadena City College. She has lectured widely, and co-organized the lecture series Talks on Painting in Los Angeles.