Michael Harris is an oil painter, song-writer and world traveler
from Toronto, Canada. Michael is self taught, having never sought out
formal training in art.
"Even as a child, I always preferred to be self-directed, progressing through exploration, experiment and self-discovery - rather than being instructed. It is a sentiment that has remained with me to this day. Needless to say, the appeal of art college was more or less lost on me."
Michael has spent years developing and evolving his approach to painting in oils. His work tends to fall into two general streams - enigmatic, provocative figure paintings of his Crucified Mountie and Tower Of People series; and his haunting and atmospheric landscape paintings which have been consistently sought after by top designers and art enthusiasts in Toronto for several years now.
All of Michael's work is deeply influenced
by his interest in Buddhism, meditation, psychology, consciousness studies,
politics, and the Integral Philosophy of Ken Wilber.
"I think we need to get back to taking painting seriously and
strip it of this self-consciously ironic stance that has infected contemporary
art for so long. Painting should not be emulating the shallowness of popular
mass culture. It should be the antidote to it.
The nature of painting is unique in that it captures not only the conceptual
originality of the individual painter's mind, but also the moment to moment
flicker and flow of pure creative inspiration itself. Each brush stroke,
each colour selection is a single moment; a flash of an individual's being
that is held in place for all time. Painting therefore has this mysterious
ability to transcend the boundaries between people over vast stretches
of time.
In an era where so much of human interaction
is mediated by impersonal electronic technologies, the power to transcend
the boundaries that separate individual human hearts and to plug-in directly
to one another's souls suggests to me that painting in the 21st century
should be more vital than ever."
SELECTED
EXHIBITIONS
2011 Jackman Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2010 Terrance Robert Gallery, Ottowa, Canada
2010 Tower of People - Rouge Concept Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2010 The Crucified Mountie - Rouge Concept Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2009 Harvest - Rouge Concept Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2009 Forces Of Nature - Rouge Concept Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2009 Art Bent - Rouge Concept Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2009 Festival Of Smalls - Art Interiors, Forest Hill, Canada
2009 Landscapes and a Still Life - The Rebel House Toronto, Canada,
2009 Gallery 133, Toronto, Canada
2009 Art Interiors, Forest Hill, Canada
2009 Tangerine Gecko Gallery, Markham Ontario
2008 Festival Of Smalls - Art Interiors, Forest Hill, Canada,
2008 Integral Naked (online)
2008 Gallery 133, Toronto, Canada
2008 Art Interiors, Forest Hill, Canada
2007 Art Interiors, Forest Hill, Canada
2007 Gallery 133, Toronto, Canada
2007 Horticultural Design, Toronto, Canada
2006 Denise Roberge Gallery?, Palm Desert, California
2006 Art Tao, Toronto, Canada
2006 Little Art Show; Riverdale Artists Network, Toronto, Canada
2006 Art Interiors, Forest Hill, Canada
2006 Gallery 133, Toronto, Canada
2006 The Rebel House, Toronto, Canada
2006 Zucca, Toronto, Canada
2006 Horticultural Design, Toronto, Canada
2005 Oh Canada; Propeller Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2005 Propeller Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2005 The Blue Show; Eastern Front Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2005 Little Art Show; Riverdale Artists Network, Toronto, Canada
2005 Art Interiors, Forest Hill, Canada
2005 Gallery 133, Toronto, Canada
2004 Little Art Show, Toronto, Canada
2004 Art For Life Auction, Toronto, Canada ?
2004 Art Interiors, Forest Hill, Canada
2004 Riverdale Art Walk, Toronto, Canada
2003 The Crucified Mountie; Peterson Fine Art, Toronto, Canada
2003 Christmas Exhibition; Peterson Fine Art, Toronto, Canada
2003 Water; Peterson Fine Art, Toronto, Canada
2003 Art Interiors, Forest Hill, Canada
2003 The Little Art Show; Eastern Front Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2002 The Little Art Show; Studio of Artists 25, Toronto, Canada
2002 Peterson Fine Art, Toronto, Canada
2002 Art Interiors, Forest Hill, Canada
2001 Delicia Art Haus, Toronto, Canada
2001 Lakeshore Arts 8th Annual Juried Art Show, Toronto, Canada
2001 Peterson Fine Art, Toronto, Canada
2000 The 39th Annual Outdoor Art Exhibition, Praxis Gallery, Toronto
2000 Group Christmas Exhibition, Praxis Gallery, Toronto
2000 Still Life Exhibition, Praxis Gallery, Toronto
2000 Annex 2nd Annual Patio Art Show
1999 Christmas Exhibition, Praxis Gallery, Toronto
1999 Still Life Exhibition, Praxis Gallery, Toronto
1999 Landscape Exhibition, Praxis Gallery, Toronto
1999 Annex 1st Annual Patio Art Show, Toronto
HOW DO YOU RISE
SOMETHING TO DO WITH KITES
INSPIRATION
I DON'T TRUST MYSELF
OPEN UP
MOBILE ST KILDA
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