My motivations and their manifestations by JW Harrington

The experience of blackness is more than having a brown body.  I want to engage people in emotions and experiences that transcend the body.  Abstract, non-objective imagery can convey and elicit feelings and understanding that are more universal and permanent than the transitory ways in which we often perceive humanity and nature.  Its power is heightened because it does not preach;  instead, it reinforces the uniqueness of the viewer’s interpretation.

Geometric abstraction forms the basis of many of my compositions.  Geometric shapes interact with plain or carefully mottled backgrounds.  Their relative slopes, colors, and heft imply movement or stasis, balance or imbalance, and even power relationships.  I am especially inspired by non-objective “Suprematism” championed by Kazimir Malevich and his contemporaries in pre-Revolutionary Russia, and I am generally inspired by 20th-century hard-edge and color-field paintings. 

Over the past two years, I’ve been pursuing color-rich biomorphic abstraction.  These carefully crafted, curvilinear forms interact in visually playful ways, sometimes portrayed against wildly gestural backgrounds.  The forms are quite abstract, some seeming more animal-like, some more plant-like.  Viewers are more likely to uncover (within themselves, really) meaning and interaction when the forms seem organic – but are sufficiently vaguely rendered to prevent ascribing characteristics of any particular species.  The paintings are also just plain fun to observe!

The Impossibility of Knowing,” the title of one on-going series, refers to the strength of memory and imagination, compared to what is “real” or “observed.”  In these paintings, a solid shape, figure, or silhouette interacts with its mirrored outline, against a shadowed background.  Something that seems substantive is augmented with its mirror, shadow, future, or past.  The interplay creates visual dynamism as each shape is pulled in its opposite direction, and interpretive dynamism as each object or figure interacts with its complement.

The Gallery at TCC Juried Show by JW Harrington

My painting Rending the Fabric received a Juror's Choice award in the The Gallery at TCC's 23rd Annual Juried Show.  The show is up now through the closing reception on Thursday 14 August (7-9pm).  
The Gallery at TCC is Bldg 4 of the Tacoma Community College campus;  parking in Lot G, entered off S. 12th St. near Mildred.  Open TWTh 10-4, Fridays 10-3.

With Rending the Fabric at The Gallery at TCC —

Biomorphic abstractions by JW Harrington

Over the past two years, I’ve pursued color-rich biomorphic abstraction. These carefully crafted, curvilinear forms interact in visually playful ways, sometimes portrayed against wildly gestural backgrounds. The forms are quite abstract, some seeming more animal-like, some more plant-like. I’ve rendered these compositions in acrylic paints, oil paints, or oil and cold wax. Below: Polendra, Parallel Lives, Orbus, and The Color of Void.

Why engage in fanciful biomorphic forms? Viewers are more likely to uncover (within themselves, really) meaning and interaction when the forms seem organic – but are sufficiently vaguely rendered to prevent ascribing characteristics of any particular species. The paintings are also just plain fun to observe!

Through June and July, ryan james fine arts will present several of these large-scale works at its Belltown capsule gallery at 2207 Second Ave. in Seattle’s Belltown (Omni Dental), open MWF 7:30-4; TTh 9-6.  Take advantage of Belltown's second-Friday art walk from 6-9pm on 6/13 and 7/11 -- I'll be there and would love to see you!