On Easter Monday I visited the National Gallery of Victoria to see the Brent Harris exhibition.  Born in New Zealand in 1956, and resident in Australia since 1981, this exhibition displays eighty works from the last twenty years, with most works taken directly from the NGV collection. The works span the media of painting, printing (mainly screen print and woodcut) and drawing, with screen print based works dominating.

The fact that the works are not organized in a chronological sequence liberates the viewer from a strict timeline interpretation of development, and allows connections to be made based on the content itself.  For example, a key component of most works is the apparent simplicity of the image, both from a compositional and color range perspective.  Most works seem abstract, but closer inspection typically reveals a figurative base.  The apparent simplicity of the images belies the skill required to achieve such striking compositions. Whether the image relates to the religious stations of the cross, or is an almost cartoon style elephant head or an anthropomorphic, organic shape, the composition is uncluttered, clear and balanced. The limited color range compliments the basic approach to the composition.  Themes are explored across multiple years in printed form and painting, and occasionally drawn form.

For example, the fluid and organic  ‘Swamp’ series appears in color aquatint and oil paint across 1999 and 2001.  A stand out work from this series is the work ‘Swamp (no 2)’ 1999 oil on canvas.

Devery, J, Brent Harris, National Gallery of Victoria, Australia, 2012, pg, 19.

A human form bent into a U shape, with hair dripping down the page, the work conveys angst and suffering from the contorted shape, sadness from the fluidity of hair, which resembles tears, and a degree of bleakness (will the figure be forever contorted thus). The starkness of the black and white range amplifies the sense of suffering. It takes no leap of imagination to agree with the accompanying text, which explains the title refers to ‘swamped’ with emotion.

The evolution of themes shows in the works selected. For example the ‘Swamp’ series may well have originated in the Munch inspired ‘To the forest 1999’ color screen print, which in basic black and white shows either snow on tree boughs, or a simplified form of a Japanese wave based woodcut, depending on your perspective. The organic, fluid images from the ‘Swamp’ series adopt a harder, more menacing edge in the appropriately named ‘Grotesquerie’ series. One work from this series stands out particularly- the ‘Grotesquerie (Le Regarder) 2002  oil on canvas work.

Devery, J, Brent Harris, National Gallery of Victoria, Australia, 2012, pg, 21

The works shows a small, vulnerable, almost mummified or bound figure, observed by a large male face. The grey toned child like shapes dripping off the male face seem almost inconsequential, a by-product. The real tension is between the male face and the apparently genderless, penitent figure. The viewer infers that the figure is in fact female, and from that infers the power play at work between the two characters. The use of grey, black and white amplifies the sense of menace. Whilst on an objective basis the male face could be described as expressionless, the viewer can infer cruelty in the pitiless gaze to the bound figure. The size difference also contributes to the sense of tension.

The severity and bleakness of the Grotesquerie series has softened over time, as shown by a series of charcoal drawings of almost organic shapes from 2007. Influenced by the Florentine mannerist Pontormo (viewed by Harris during a recent trip to Italy), these drawings also seem to reflect the religious drawings of William Blake. These charcoal drawings seemed to act as a catalyst for further changes in 2011 and 2012. In 2011 Harris produced a series of gouache and charcoal paintings. By contrast with the other works in the show, these are joyful multi colored abstract gems, bubbling with life and hope. In 2012 he expanded his range to explore dark field monotypes, with three amazing figurative works that seem to evolve from the 2007 charcoal drawings.

Devery, J, Brent Harris, National Gallery of Victoria, Australia, 2012, pg, 23

This exhibition poignantly captures Brent Harris’s development to date as an artist, and leaves us eagerly anticipating future developments.