Art Crime

Art Crimes are committed all over the world in the form of Graffiti. Early examples of graffiti include cave drawings, a form of visual and graphic depiction of culture. Today, graffiti is worldwide and has evolved from the primitive and sophisticate drawings of ancient Greek & Roman culture into modern urban statements about turf, politix, religion, culture and art. Graffiti art is Public Art created by the anonymous, the underground or multiple public individuals.

The graffiti in this image resides on the Cinque Terre, south of Vernazza, on the Via Dell A'more (Lover's Walk). A successful example of multiple public participation (not all are) that convey a positive alpha-numeric contribution of graphics to the culture of romance on this particular lover's walk. Harkrader was staying in Vernazza at Lillie's residence fronting the Italian Riviera on the Mediterranean Sea. The five villages of the Cinque Terre are all accessible by foot, ferry or train. The absence of the automobile gods and the culture of rail contribute to the regions highly desirable livability. Public transportation and trails are one of the attributes that make Europe so desirable. Come on America-bring on the Rail Culture. Then there is the art.

Let it Snow!

Today it snowed...& snowed! Peace! Peaceful!

The image above is one of the three canvases sold as noted in the previous post. This black & white with red circle on a blue background canvas is also from the 'Onyx' series (Rothko on steriods). A canvas of heavy textures including coal, pumice, sand, collage, copper and paint. an electrical box located in the lower right section of the canvas opening is 3D. The box is filled with alpha-numeric characters threaded on copper wire and the box is capped with clear 1/8 acrylic plastic. Harkrader worked on an original small watercolor (historical home) that was a part of a bartering arrangement for a unique situation.

Onyx paintings sold today

Harkrader's art agent from Lancaster Pennsylvania bought three paintings today from the 'Onyx' series. These three canvases all have incredible 3D elements embedded in, on, behind and through the canvas face. One such section (detail) is seen above from the canvas titled 'Sardonyx'. The total canvas size is 40"x30". The canvas has two primary Rothko type shapes of black and white on a light blue-grey background. A calculator is embedded into thick layers of emulsion laced with coal and pumice in it's black surface. This canvas was created in 2005 while Harkrader was working at Studios on the Square and ironically the calculator is 'still working'. A total for 2000x3 was calculated to check it's accuracy. Around the perimeter of the canvas face lie an embedded figure of a nude female torso, raised alph-numberic text, other collage elements, one white shape is laced with fine copper wire and the entire canvas is deeply textural with the coal and pumice mediums. The 'Onyx' series are masculine according to some viewers. If so, this may be one of the most masculine. Adjectives may include strong, bold, black, rough, deep, textured, excavated, etc. A circle of light gray pumice-texture form a connection between the white and black Rothko shapes. Overall the work is like Rothko on steriods. Would you like one for your collection? There are others!

Available - Red II & III

Diptych (40" x 60") . Red II and Red III.
This red canvas diptych is from the 'Urban' series. Architetural elements symbolize windows, doors, building footprints, aerial views and also include raised alpha-numeric test which are burnished with a faux gold leaf and antique Greek text from an 1800's book of Greek law. Text includes the new version, rouge trios, edge and other symbolic shapes and text.
The 'Urban' series is one of Harkrader's ongoing seemingly never ending series that he has been working on since 2003. The Urban series include over 30 canvases, most of which have been sold, but the series continues and new ones evolve.
Available-price on request. More Urban images available upon request or site-specific commissions are an option.

Floral Abstract Earth is Available

Floral Abstract Earth is complete and was photographed for the archives today. This painting is from the 'Corolla' series that follows the paintings recently sold & blogged in December and January posts. The size is 36"x48" and the medium is mixed. Three black fibers run vertically down the left and right side of the front plane. The palette colors are softer than earlier versions; earthly & less action which slows the canvas down in a restful manner. Areas around the yellow floral are extremely deep with medium giving this and the entire canvas an exceptionally 3D quality when viewed close up. The canvas has been in progress for about 6 weeks. Support my work by purchasing this canvas. For details, visit my website to leave me a message.

http://www.harkraderx.com/

Missing Vessel III

Vessel III is not missing, but the artist is missing having this painting hang on his living room wall. Painted in 2007 while still working at the Studios On The Square (Campell) location in Roanoke City, Harkrader completed three of the five vessel paintings, but none as controversial as Vessel III. Harkrader and his wife traveled to Western and Eastern Europe during this year. Harkrader and Ellen housed with artists in Rome & Paris, in addition to a journey that led them to Budapest and Prague. These trips was absolutely filled with intrigue, adventure and mishap which will be covered in a later post.

In this same year, Harkrader read Dan Brown's fiction, the Da Vinci Code which was full of symbolism, code, numbers, secrets, interpretation and meaning. The book made a large impression on Harkrader on many levels. Painted after reading the Da Vinci Code, the book controversial for many reasons including the possibility of Christ having fathered a child by Mary Magdalene, the role of the church in art, Symbolism, code, numbers, intrigue and secrets fill the book especially and Harkrader has filled his painting with some enigma.

The vessel shapes in this Harkrader canvas are all (3) masculine. Shapes (blade/pryamid)=masculine as revealed in Christian literature, Da Vinci's Last Supper and Brown's version of fiction. Some of the raised text in the painting include Heiros Gamos & SubRosa. Harkrader dissected a sweeping vertical opening in the left center section of the canvas and laced the opening up with copper wire that became embedded as the painting progressed. This opening is symbolic of the of the wound & scar in Christ's side. The center 'masculine shaped' vessel is covered in the blood, which is symbolic of communion (derived from Latin for 'sharing in common), where wine is substituted for the blood of Christ and and the faithful partake in 'open communion' as practiced by many Christians.

Other very personal enigma that Harkrader embedded are contained in two of the three small verticle circles that reside along the lower right side of the canvas along the left side of the blue line. The content of these three circles were rarely noticed by the majority of spectators who viewed this canvas while on display in Virginia, Washington DC, and Philadelphia.

Salon Night

Harkrader gave a studio tour today to guest, German. Fibers were preset onto the unfinished-untitled abstract floral canvas now in progress.

Tonight is Salon Night, hosted by writer, artist and cultural critic - Suzi Gablik. Gablik, who has written several books, received a B.A. from Hunter College where she studied with Robert Motherwell and worked briefly at Black Mountain College in the early ‘50s. A devotee of John Cage and friends with Greenwich Village artists Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, Gablik moved permanently to Blacksburg, Virginia (‘Black Virgin’) in the early ‘90s.

Harkrader and those salonistas from the Roanoke Valley region have the benefit of driving to and fro Deer Run via the lovely Catawba and Ellett Valley. Salonistas’ respectfully tackle hot-topic issues like war, religion, environment, politics, movies, art, life, peace, future, history, etc. Open-minded discussion and debate come to life from participating writers, artists, educators, students, philosophizers, psychologists, scientist, collectors, curators, and guests. A one hour social of drink and potluck precede the two hour dialogue and deliberation.

Goodbye Floral Abstract

Pam Floyd of Pamela Jean Gallery in Roanoke informed Harkrader of the acquisition of my 'Floral Abstract' by an important Roanoke collector. He hated to see it go, but this floral dancing has a good home.

This painting was the study executed in advance of the two previous corporate commissions revealed in a previous post.

Today in the studio, the artist continued the work on his next floral which has been in progress since early December.

These paintings from the 'Word Series' is on exhibition presently at the Pamela Jean Gallery in Roanoke across the street from the Taubman Museum of Art. The gallery is open Wedesnedays, Thursdays and Fridays. The exhibiton will come down on January 20th.

It is January after all

The heat wave is over. Make room for the flakes. This seems like a good eve to escape and recall an October visit to Lake Tahoe--the second deepest lake in America. Harkrader had not published this image of a sculpture from his environmental series. This stone sculpture may still be standing (not!). Constructed from rocks that were scoured during the ice age, this totem is in homage to the native Washoe people whom lived in harmony with this earth location. Located on the beach 5 miles north of Incline Village where the artist's cousin Ron has lived since 1970.

Heat Wave

The ink on paper image is from Harkrader's 'Drawings from Life' at the Mountain Lake Symposiums and Workshops from the decade of the 80's. This drawing is American artist, Keith Sonnier, whom the artist captured while Sonnier spoke.

Since the Dark Skinned Angel has only recently started to focus on my blog, we will recap history along the way. During the month of September and October, 2009 the Montgomery Museum hosted the 'Mountain Lake Workshop Retrospective', thanks to Ray Kass, Founder and Director of theMountain Lake Symposiums and Workshops (http://www.raykass.com/html/artists.html). The museum partnered with the Arts Council of the Blue Ridge to bring this historic exhibit to the New River Valley, home of Mountain Lake.

The above drawing of Sonnier was one of nine Harkrader drawings in that exhibit. There are a total of 33 drawings from life from that decade. Other drawings include; John Cage, Ray Kass, Donald Kuspit, etc. These historic drawings are available for exhibit and acquisition. More details in a future blog.

There is a heat wave--but you will have to visit Charlotte to catch the wave, for there it is a balmy 40 F. Harkrader recalls one temperature experience in Girdwoood Alaska (OMG, you say--another Alaska story?). The temp had been -50 F for 3 weeks. The weather then warmed up to 40 F in a 4 day period (90 degrees). There was 2 inches of ice on the 'inside' of Harkrader's cabin windows. Unocuppied vehicles parked on a slanted lot at Aleyeska Ski Resort slid downhill and pancaked sideways on the rapidly melting ice. Today he is in Charlotte. Harkrader brought his watercolors for quickies.

Frigid Temp & Floral Abstract In Progress

Brrr! There is only one thing that warms frigid weather-- Snow! All this cold weather is going to waste without it. Have you noticed how peaceful and quite it is when the powder falls? Light ambiance is elevated in frigid weather; ask the stars if it isn't so tonight. Hakrader had a working session in the studio today, working mostly on the floral abstract. He embedded color black to give the work 'song'. Black can be sophisticated and may evoke strong impressions. The interior of the studio may seem diverse because it is. Multiple on-going series are in progress that seem to never end. The abstract floral on the easel is in progress and there are approximately 20 completed canvases in this 'Corolla' series. The nude (above-left) is from early work. One of Harkrader's beloved canvases on the rear wall is from the 'Action' series, of which there are a dozen or more. Everything seen in this image is available. See http://www.harkraderx.com/ to study the ongoing series.

Harkrader Installation for AECOM

It is frigid today, but not as cold as the night Harkrader landed in Prudhoe Bay Alaska (-69 F) enclosed in the cabin of a Twin Otter aircraft. This morning it was 21 degree F and we landed at the studio on Church Avenue via the family Camry. Harkrader brushed a final varnish on a completed painting, followed by additional layers of paint and medium on my newest floral abstract. He doesn't think it will be finished before he goes to Charlotte. The above photo images are of the AECOM corporate lobby with the Harkrader installation completed. (Photos by Ellen)

Harkrader Studio Visit

Breakfast by yours truely at our warm abode, followed by coffee at Mill Mountain Starkey (our third place).

A visit to the studio in the afternoon working on his next new floral abstract (36x48). The canvas in the window is in the collection of Blue Ridge Community College. The studio lab coat that Harkrader used for 4 years at Studios on the Square is available to purchase.

Floral Abstracts from the Corolla Series

Two large commissioned painting were installed on the 16th floor of AECOM corporate lobby. Large floral abstracts titled 'Floral Architecture' & 'Symphonic Floral'.

From the Harkrader ‘Corolla Series’:

Canvas title for 36x66 = Symphonic Floral (a musical composition, many times in four movements and my flowers represent the movement)

Canvas title for 60x66 = Floral Architecture (relates to the environment in which flowers live and/or to the structure of the flower itself - ‘Biomimicry’)