Brent Harris: Capturing Deep Emotion Beneath Humor

Brent Harris’ retrospective exhibition, “Surrender and Catch,” meticulously covers a span of four decades of his artistic journey. The collection is a delightful feast for both the eyes and the mind.

The exhibit features paintings, some meticulously detailed and others wonderfully loose, alongside prints and drawings arranged in chronological order. This layout effectively maps out Harris’s career, highlighting significant shifts and personal insights gained through his artistic process.

The exhibition’s title, “Surrender and Catch,” draws from American sociologist Kurt Wolff’s 1970s theory. Wolff proposed being open to what art reveals, surrendering to the creative process, and capturing the wisdom it generates, akin to the surrealist methodology of leveraging the unconscious to inform imagery.

Born in 1956 in Palmerston North, New Zealand, Harris moved to Melbourne in 1982. This move allowed him to distance himself from a challenging childhood and pursue a career in art.

The exhibition commences with expressionist works from the late 1980s. These pieces show traces of influence from his instructor at the Victorian College of Arts, Peter Booth.

There is a palpable shift in mood with the series “Stations” (1989), consisting of 14 abstract geometric paintings. These were created in response to the deaths of members of the gay community due to the AIDS pandemic. The title refers to the biblical Stations of the Cross.

The “Crucifixion,” rendered in a muted palette of black, white, and cream, echoes the work of fellow New Zealander Colin McCahon, particularly his “Fourteen Stations of the Cross” (1966). Harris revisited the theme during the COVID pandemic, producing a more mature version titled “Stations of the Cross” (2021).

Harris often works in series to fully explore a concept through to its completion. His next series marks a shift from abstract precision to a surrealist response to unconscious imagery.

In works like “Appalling Moment E” (1994), dots transform into eyes, and abstract marks turn into an elephant’s trunk. This transition to absurd figuration allowed Harris to delve into bodily and emotional memories, a phase he wittily termed an “appalling moment.”

Drawings from this period feature disjointed forms, evolving into stretched, organic shapes. The “Swamp” series, named after marshland, symbolizes Harris’s memories of his lonely and isolating teenage years.

The paintings engage viewers through spatial ambiguities between abstract and figurative shapes, demanding time and contemplation to fully appreciate their depth and meaning. Pieces like “To the Forest, blue” (1998) invite viewers to imagine a path beyond the canvas with their simple yet captivating designs.

Exploring deeper within himself, Harris created a series of portraits reflecting his traumatic childhood under a harsh and domineering father. “I weep my mother’s breasts” (1996) stands out, showing a mirror-image in a cartoonish style that recalls a painful childhood experience.

In “Grotesquerie” (2008), Harris unveils the agony of his dysfunctional family. Presented as a diptych, it shows a sightless mother and a monstrous father with a red pacifier silencing him, set against a haunting black backdrop.

The emotional tone shifts in vibrant oil paintings like “The Reassembled Self, no. 28” (2010), radiating peace, joy, and acceptance. These works illustrate the rewards of surrendering to the unconscious.

Unassuming yet fascinating monotypes like “Untitled no. 33” (2012), part of “The Fall” series, reveal Harris working swiftly on a black base applied to glass, creating surreal and eerie images.

The exhibition concludes with works painted upon his return to New Zealand. Following his father’s death in 2016, Harris reconnected with his homeland, producing joyful works like “Peaks (Vision over Taranaki)” (2019), which captures a childhood vista.

An excellent catalogue supports this expansive exhibition, with each gallery area introduced by informative wall text. Harris’s pieces are accompanied by works from influential artists like Louise Bourgeois, Edvard Munch, and McCahon, enriching the display.

While Harris’s work can be seen as a psychological journey, it transcends personal interpretation, searching for broader meaning. An accompanying film in the exhibition space features Harris reflecting on this aspect.

Brent Harris: Surrender and Catch is on display at the Art Gallery of South Australia until October 20.

Source: Particle News