Artist Spotlight - Howard Harris — Contemporary Art Curator Magazine

Biography

Howard Harris has long been fascinated by both visual perception and design. The Denver, Colorado, USA native earned a BFA from Kansas City Art Institute MID (Masters Industrial Design) from Pratt Institute in New York, studying with internationally renowned design theorist Rowena Reed Kostellow.

Window Wonder - 2016, Sublimation on Aluminum with Acrylic Overlay, 91.5x76

Harris has spent more than 35 years combining design and technology, and he has won many prestigious professional awards. Now, his creative energy has turned to his lifelong passion, photography which forms the basis of his Techspressionist style of work.

Monaco Afloat, 2017, Sublimation on Aluminum with Acrylic Overlay, 91.5x76 - 2017

With an iconoclastic streak that had seen him consistently forging new directions in design, he was bound to approach the photographic image unconventionally. In 2017, Harris was granted a United States Patent titled Apparatus and Method of Manufacturer for a Layered Artwork, proving the uniqueness and inventiveness of his photographic work.

No Monkeys, 2018, Sublimation on Aluminum with Acrylic Overlay, 91.5x76

Since then, his work has appeared in many books and publications, such as The Great Masters of Contemporary Art, ARTtour International Artists of the Decade, Art Collectors Choice Japan, International Contemporary Masters, and Top 10 Contemporary Artists, to mention a few.

Not Alone, 2018,Sublimation on Aluminum with Acrylic Overlay, 91.5x76

He has also been awarded the Future of Art Global Masterpiece Award, Artists for a Green Planet Artist of the Decade, International Prize Raffaello, International Prize Giulio Cesare, International Prize Leonardo Da Vinci, International Prize Caravaggio, Contemporary Art Curator Magazines Artist of the Future, and more.

Oculus Maximus, 2018, Sublimation on Aluminum with Acrylic Overlay, 91.5x76

He was a trustee of The Kansas City Art Institute and won the Who’s Who Worldwide Lifetime Achievement Award and the USA Small Businessperson of the Year. His work is shown internationally and represented in the United States, the U.K., and Europe galleries.

Puffer, 2020, Sublimation on Aluminum, 91.5x76

Artist Statement

Visual reality is an ever-shifting, highly individualized experience. In any given moment, what we see reflects our inner state and synthesis of outer qualities—light, color, movement, and space. My exploration as a Techspressionist with photographic technologies represents an attempt to recreate the perceptual experience, with its dynamic nature and hidden complexities.

Cheetah, 2022, Sublimation on Aluminum with Acrylic Overlay, 91.5x76

All of my images are presented on an aluminum surface. In many of my photographic constructions, a single, often abstracted image is layered over itself with a subtle grid printed on a clear acrylic surface and superimposed over the base image. The resulting visual phenomenon infuses the image with a sense of dimensionality and fluidity affected by such changes as the angle of viewing and light.

Heart, 2021, Sublimation on Aluminum, 91.5x76

Yet perceptual mechanics are only part of the equation. Equally essential are universal principles of design that produce qualities we perceive as beauty. This is my aim: to skillfully combine technology and aesthetics in a way that expands the viewer’s experience of photographic art.

www.hharrisphoto.com

Instagram: @howardharrisphotoart

Facebook: @howardharrisphotoart