"Fashion Town"

"Fashion Town"

2019

Corner of Salem & Market Street

Roanoke, Virginia

Sold by Alexander / Heath Contemporary

Leather and Lace

Laced leather connect these two shapes together in this detail of Red Onyx III by Harkrader. Thick medium embedded with sand and pumice mixed into the white paint anchor the left lace. Inside that shape lives a small collage. Tension is created as the leather grips the black shape on the right. Living inside this black shape resides a small collage embedded in thick medium of cloth and pumice obscured in the black paint.

Vento Floreale

Wind blown botanicals or 'Vento Floreale' 36x48. The action compositions of the 'Corolla' abstract floral series continue with the completion of the canvas above. A garden of wind blown erotica; pedals, anthers, stigma, style, ovary and eggs may be analogous to the feminine and it's complement, the masculine / or the Mars-Venus. Minimum collage and embedded fibers on the left vertical and the wandering mimicry of the floral motifs by the same gauge black fiber that meander around add a gentle action to the center composition.

Word 200 Evolved From European Travels

This 'Word 200' Harkrader canvas evolved from bits and pieces of acquired Eastern and Western Europe. Collages include Greek text, European currency, fiber and other memorabilia. A canvas in which the 'white' floats above the earthy excavation like shapes below. White can represent purity and freedom, but also provide contrast to the surrounding colors of black and color. All the colors on this canvas seem to absorb as opposed to reflect. This canvas resides in the Harkrader collection and may be available. (Sold:Michael&Ellen@Naples)

Word VII

Harkrader has created another restful composition within Word VII. A window looking into or out of the sky floats in the lower left as two fibers gently horizon their way across the horizontal land. An excavation of rock lies just below. In the center canvas resides a small vertical opening that exposes text, like some ancient word exposed by an archaeological excavation. A vein of granite or marble resides in the top left and another small window to the world just right. (30"x30" / mixed media) Available!

Small Onyx With A Large Heart

From the Onyx series, a message of love (& death?)... 'Xo' with meaning, among other things, hugs and kisses or kisses and hugs. The X may represent the symbolic textural gesture of an embrace (arms in hug) or the cartoonist symbol of an animated kiss (peck-lips-x). The O may represent the circling embrace of a hug or the shape of one's lips in a pucker. Either or vice versa...they both work in the text messaging; this revolutionary, vocabulary changing, end of the Queen's English as we know it culture. These two shapes (XO) also found their way into historical cave drawings and the history of the future as artist continue to use them in their paintings as Harkrader has done on this 5"x5" mini-canvas of mixed mediums. Collage of black paper on the top left side provide texture and composition. The double X (white & gray) provide additional language and bright red O or swirl complete the message. But meaning contiues as one ponders the religious meaning of the cross. There seems to always be an artistic language of love, life, death, religion, environment or war within much of our art. What does it mean when the artist did not mean to imply any social or religious message, but the viewer finds otherwise? Is the language valid?

Soft Action Erotica

Action art allows the viewer to follow the path of movement that the artist's body and medium delivered traveled across the canvas. Not all areas of this action canvas are such. The epitome of action painting (abstract expressionism) was delivered by Pollack in the '40's and '50's. Harkrader's Silent Echo VI (above) has a half dozen action deliveries on the canvas face, while other parts of the 40" x 30" canvas (available) is embedded with collage, photographs, alpha and numeric text. The color blue which is normally cool visually, takes on a warm sensation surrounded by the ochre, sienna and other earth. This canvas is choke full of interesting language, including soft erotica. Never boring & a conversation piece.