Mark Harris

Gli elaborati segnici di Mark Harris (1971, Gran Bretagna) si manifestano, in potenza, già quando l’artista consulta un catalogo, un libro, una cartella di incisioni.

Comunicato stampa

Gli elaborati segnici di Mark Harris (1971, Gran Bretagna) si manifestano, in potenza, già quando l’artista consulta un catalogo, un libro, una cartella di incisioni.
Mark Harris non indica un luogo o un tempo determinato. I titoli stessi forniscono indicazioni generiche. Solo vaghe parole descrittive come paesaggio marino del nord, deposito orientale, arcata meridionale o zona boscosa occidentale. E’ invece possibile risalire con estrema precisione ai riferimenti iconografici che lo guidano nella sua ricerca estetica: Superstudio, Vorticismo, Futurismo, László Moholy-Nagy, Paul Nash, Samuel Palmer, Caspar Friedrich e Hokusai. In passato Mark Harris ha prodotto opere pittoriche oppure disegni su fotografie originali di rovine scattate in tutta Europa subito dopo la Seconda Guerra Mondiale. La maggior parte dei materiali con cui oggi lavora hanno 50, 60, 70 anni. Portano i segni del tempo: angoli usurati, sgualciture, grasso dalle dita, colla e segni di polvere. Inizialmente, tre anni fa’, quando ha iniziato questa serie di lavori, Mark Harris era alla ricerca di immagini inusuali sulle quali lavorare, successivamente ha iniziato a prendere in considerazione anche la carta semplice e le copertine dei libri. Mark Harris, rivisitando materiali di scarto, ha scoperto nuovi supporti su cui lavorare.
Signical compositions by Mark Harris (1971, UK) arise, potentially, already when the artist see a catalog, a book, a folder of etchings.
Mark Harris does not suggest a place or a certain time. Titles provide general guidance. Only vague descriptive words such as north seascape, eastern depot, southern archway and western woodlands. Instead is possible to trace back precisely to the iconographic references that guide him in his aesthetic research: Superstudio, Vorticism, Futurism, László Moholy-Nagy, Paul Nash, Samuel Palmer, Caspar Friedrich and Hokusai. In the past, Mark Harris has produced paintings or drawings of the ruins on original photographs taken across the Europe after the Second World War. Most materials he works with are 50, 60, 70 years old. They carry the signs of time; worn corners, distress, grease from fingers, glue and dust marks. Initially, three years ago 'when he started this series of works, Mark Harris was looking for unusual imagery to work with, then began to consider also the plain paper and book covers. Mark Harris, revisiting waste materials, has discovered new media to work with.

Mark Harris - Born 1971 UK, Lives and works in London

Selected Exhibitions
2010 > Typography Liberation Front LOKAAL01, Breda, Holland > International Print Show Xian University, China > Urban Fragment – Imagining Architecture Collyer Bristow Gallery, > Continuous Movement 2- solo exhibition Stanley Picker Gallery at the Rose Theatre, Kingston. < 2009 > The Grand Plasto-Baader-Books Kaleid Editions, London > Continuous Movement Galleria Aus18, Milan > Illusion and Materiality in Contemporary Painting Herbert Read Gallery, Canterbury > Reg Perfect and the Squeegees Portman Gallery, London < 2008 > Limited Wharf Road Projects, London > Scope Art Fair 2008 Lords, London > Space Now - 40th Anniversary Show Space Gallery, London, Selected from over 800 artists to represent the best of Space studios current contemporary artists < 2007 > O Deborah Contemporary Art Projects, London > Hope and Despair Cell Projects, London < 2006 > Drawing Breath – 10 yrs of Jerwood Prize Winners Jerwood Gallery, London and toured to Sydney and Singapore > World Gone Mad – Surrealism in Contemporary British Art Herbert Read Gallery, Canterbury Castlesfield, Manchester, Limehouse Arts, London

Collections
Deutsche Bank Collection
Tate Archive Collection
Victoria and Albert Museum
Royal College of Art Archives