Peter Harris’ works on paper and canvas have a very ‘80s feel.
The vibrating palette of Elizabeth Murray quickly comes to mind. But so does Frank Stella of the same era. Maybe even a little Charles Arnoldi thrown in there. But that’s just Harris’ color.
The mark is a different story. I’m going to go out on a limb here… Harris’ line is really connected to Chuck Jones. Yup, that animated billow of crayon or pastel that Harris lays down, to me, feels related to the nebula of dust left in the wake of the Roadrunner. Or the tiny poof when the Coyote finally hits the canyon floor. Or, quite possibly, the gyrations of the Tasmanian Devil.
Action painting indeed.
// Peter’s available work //
exhibition history
Day or Night it Looks Like Night, curated by Liliana Herrera // NIAD Online Exhibition // February 2022
Layers Upon Layers, curated by Shenny Cruces// Archival Gallery, Sacramento // March 2022
Voice Inside, organized by Sunila Bajracharya // NIAD Online Exhibition // January 2022
Be Heard. Speak Up., organized by Fenwick & West // NIAD Windows Exhibition // 2020
Good On Paper: Erin McCluskey Wheeler x NIAD // NIAD Art Center // 2020
Have/Hold, organized by Julia Schwartz NIAD Art Center // 2019
Ether Here Nor There: Anthony Grant x NIAD // NIAD Art Center // 2019
Hailing From Parts Unknown, organized By Curtis Turner // May 2019
Forests And Clearings, organized By Wayne Smith // NIAD Art Center // 2019
Books, Man, organized by Mike Monteiro // NIAD Art Center // 2019
Redefining Contemporary Art, organized by Courtney Eldridge // Depot Steamboat Springs // 2019
Where They Want To Go, organized by Erin McCluskey Wheeler // NIAD Art Center // 2019
Talking Heads: Figuration From Northern California Ceramicists, organized by Susan Alexander and NIAD Art Center // Museum of Northern California Art (monca), Chico // 2018
It’s Complicated, organized by Kathleen King // NIAD Art Center // 2018
The Genre Leaps, organized by Margaret Tedesco // NIAD Art Center // 2018
Can Did, organized By Julio Rodriguez // NIAD Art Center // 2018
Thread Heads // Berkeley Art Center // 2017
Peter Harris x Eddie Braught // NIAD Art Center // 2017
Affinity, organized by Tim Buckwalter // Museum of Northern California Art (monca), Chico // 2017
The Fourth Dimension, organized by Marja Galpin van der Loo // NIAD Art Center // 2017
Spring/ Summer Exhibition, organized by Arianne Gelardin // PARLOR San Francisco // 2017
Shapeshifting Superheavies, organized by Jessica Snow // NIAD Art Center // 2017
Mayor Tom Butt Selects The Art Of NIAD // Mayor’s Suite, City Hall, Richmond // 2017
Curious Weave, organized by Ramekon O’Arwisters // NIAD Art Center // 2016
Abstract Preferences, organized by Anthony Pinata // NIAD Art Center // 2016
Assemble: A NIAD Art Center Project with Nina Zurier, organized by Nina Zurier // NIAD Art Center // 2015
Ebony + Ivory, organized by Katie Johnson // NIAD Art Center // 2014
Mud, Honey // NIAD Art Center // 2013
Championship Vinyl // NIAD Art Center // 2013
A Light That Never Goes Out: Continuing Traditions In Abstraction // NIAD Art Center // 2013
recent press
San Francisco Arts Quarterly: The Art Circus Comes To Town (2013, May)