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Details
- Date
- 2004
- Media category
- Painting
- Materials used
- oil on linen
- Dimensions
- 243.5 x 136.0 cm stretcher; 248.0 x 140.0 x 6.5 cm frame
- Credit
- Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Gary Singer and Geoffrey Smith, in memory of Professor George Singer 2015
- Location
- Not on display
- Accession number
- 23.2015
- Copyright
- © Brent Harris
- Artist information
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Brent Harris
Works in the collection
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About
Throughout his career Brent Harris's work has explored the potency and weight of Christian iconography, which has been created by artists for over two millennia, and shaped the beliefs and customs of western society. Harris's enterprise is not 'a question of faith' but rather a consideration of how meaning is generated through religious art. It can be traced back to his landmark series 'The stations' 1989 which addressed life and death through opening a dialogue with the spiritually engaged abstract work of fellow New Zealander Colin McCahon and American Barnett Newman.
In late 2002 Harris travelled to Europe and spent six weeks enthralled by the religious art in Paris and Florence. He was particularly taken by Michelangelo's portrayal of the lifeless Jesus Christ being cradled by the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene in his pietà 'The deposition' 1547-1553. It struck a chord with Harris, who had previously envisioned the mother/ son relationship in his 'Grotesquerie' series 2001, and in response he began creating his own images of Jesus and Mary in between 2004 and 2006. Harris's representations of Jesus alternated between miraculous saviour and suffering martyr; the former playfully camp with long wavy brown hair and the latter solemnly forlorn with a crown of thorns. Viewed together we can decode these constructs in order to reveal their communicative power and resonance with the human condition.
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Exhibition history
Shown in 3 exhibitions
The face, Brent Harris, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 24 Apr 2004–13 Jun 2004
Just a feeling: Brent Harris, selected works 1987 to 2005, The Ian Potter Museum of Art, Parkville, 11 Feb 2006–07 May 2006
Signs and symbols to live by, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 16 Jun 2016–19 Mar 2017
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Bibliography
Referenced in 4 publications
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Steven Miller, The face, Brent Harris, Sydney, 2004, front cover (colour illus.).
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Peter Hill, The Sydney Morning Herald, 'The wagers of sin', pg. 8-9, Sydney, 29 May 2004-30 May 2004, 9. Spectrum supplement
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Lenny Ann Low, The Sydney Morning Herald, 'The face', pg. 13, Sydney, 11 May 2004, 13.
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Chris McAuliffe, Bala Starr, Sarah Thomas and Jonathan Nichols, Just a feeling: Brent Harris, selected works 1987-2005, 'List of works in the exhibition', pg. 34-39, Melbourne, 2005, 37 (colour illus.). cat.no. 25
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