Detail of Red Onyx VI exhibits approximately a 9x12 inch area at the bottom center section of the canvas face. The actual canvas size is 60"x48". This collage of figures living within the composition is minimal compared to the large red shape that lives above this selection and they give the canvas an erotic tilt. Harkrader's 'Onyx' series is homage to Rothko in the use of a large rectangle located below or above a smaller rectangle as seen in Rothko's fluid color washes on raw canvas. The difference is Harkrader has embellished his canvases to include embedded elements living above, below and beside the rectangles. Deeply embedded collage, fibers, copper, pumice, sand, coal, glass and other media occupy this complex composition described by one viewer as 'Rothko on steroids'. This canvas was sold by Aaron Gallery in Washington, DC to a neighborhood collector.
