Jane Harris
dal 27/4/2005 al 4/6/2005
Segnalato da
27/4/2005
Jane Harris
Hales Gallery, London
Divine. The artist has employed an opulent palette of sophisticated metallic colours alongside her opaque monochromatic oil paints. The relationship between forms has become complex with the introduction of up to four at any one time. These developments prevent the paintings from being typecast, with the range of 'character roles' including both stern scientist and saucy French maid.
Divine
It is said that good things come to those who wait. And London has had to wait eleven years since the last solo exhibition by British artist Jane Harris. Upon visiting her studio to see here latest work, I was reminded of Jasper Johns’ desire to ‘avoid a polar situation’, in his paintings. In a similar way, Harris work has always hovered between opposites; figure/ground, horizontal/vertical, singular/plural. Conceptually, these strategies keep the work in an ever-shifting state of flux, tantalising, open and illusive. Yet these paintings are not vague and non-committal; they are structured, curiously spiritual and quietly insistent.
Most recently, Harris has employed an opulent palette of sophisticated metallic colours alongside her opaque monochromatic oil paints. Furthermore, the relationship between forms has become complex with the introduction of up to four at any one time. These developments prevent the paintings from being typecast, with the range of ‘character roles’ including both stern scientist and saucy French maid.
It is this sense of engagement on the part of the artist, her investment in the longevity of painting, which lends these works their playful and inventive seriousness. This is not to say that the work is po-faced, pompous or bombastic, but it does, perhaps, require more attention than we have recently become accustomed to give. Despite their graphic strength, nothing can replicate the first hand experience of the way in which light shifts across their luscious surfaces. Again, Jasper Johns comes to mind in the deliberate control of the gestural brushstroke. Harris’ deft-yet-dense technique questions the very definition of spontaneity and the relationship between the hand and eye.
But perhaps it is the title of the exhibition, Divine, which is the most revealing. The dictionary definition is manifold. As an adjective, it is an informal acknowledgement of Harris’ flirtatious use of the ‘religious’ form and colour, of the works’ attractiveness. But maybe most importantly, as a verb, it indicates the artistic endeavour to learn and discover through intuition. It is this ambition that runs throughout the ongoing development of Jane Harris’ painting.
Richard Kirwan
2005
Jane Harris has recently been awarded the Rootstein Hopkins Sabbatical Award and has a forthcoming solo show in the autumn 2005 at the Aldrich Museum, Ridgefield, Connecticut. Harris has had past solo shows at Jack Shainman Gallery, New York and Southampton City Art Gallery and is currently exhibiting in ‘Mythomania’ The Metropole Galleries, Folkstone and ‘Death is Part of the Process? Void Gallery, Derry, Ireland.
Image: Holy Smoke;2004;Oil on canvas 193 x 244 cm
Private view: Wednesday, 27.04.05 6pm-9pm
Hales Gallery
Tea Building
7 Bethnal Green Road
London E1 6LA
Opening Times: Thursday to Saturday 12 - 6pm or by appointment