BRAD HARMS, "Analog," Sept 10 - Oct 15, 2005, Newzones Gallery of Contemporary Art, Calgary

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"Wigwam"

Brad Harms, "Wigwam," 2005, acrylic on canvas, 60" x 48".

BRAD HARMS, Analog

Newzones Gallery of Contemporary Art, Calgary

Sept 10 - Oct 15, 2005

By Roberta McDonald

You might think, at first glance, that Brad Harms’ paintings are manufactured, like the urban backdrops he calls home. Yet, the moiré lines and shapes are all hand produced, which infuses them with pulsing human warmth. “They’re steeped in technology, but they’re all handcrafted,” he says. The 34-year-old Calgary artist’s paintings have shown in Munich and in San Francisco. The Canada Council for the Arts purchased Six Steelies for its art bank, and the piece was displayed as part of Alberta’s centennial celebration in Ottawa. Hotel Arts, the former Holiday Inn, has purchased six Harms paintings for its new boutique hotel concept. “I want them to change as the light moves across the day and the sun moves across the sky. They become these organic, ever-changing things,” he says, adding his titles are meant to entice. There has been a shift in tone from his 2003 body of work, Idiolect, which included titles such as Worthless Prodigy and All Shall Worship Me and Despair. His new series is more humble and includes works with whimsical names such asLuckiest Painting and Father Said No Parties. “I’m not necessarily forcing anything upon you, but rather asking you,” he says of his more mature attitude, adding when he first earned his MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2003, he was “cocky.”

Represented by: Newzones Gallery of Contemporary Art, Calgary.