Famous for his paintings of urban landscape – involving gas stations, restaurants, street cars, roads – Toronto-based artist Peter D. Harris recently came up with an unusual series called “Evening with Hopper” that was exhibited at the Mira Godard Gallery from April 29 to May 27, 2017.
Peter imagines buildings displaying paintings by Edward Hopper inside. The vantage point is that of an outsider, looking through closed doors and windows of glass. The exteriors and interiors are neat and clean, somewhat shadowy and empty of people.
“These paintings were largely observational studies of quiet and overlooked areas of the city – the parking lots, storefronts, entryways, etc.,” explains the artist, “and designed to confront the viewer with images from their day-to-day life. I began to include exact miniature versions of historical landscape paintings by artists such as Edward Hopper and Lawren Harris, painted as if hanging on display in the interiors spaces of contemporary buildings.”
Apart from Edward Hopper and Lawren Harris; Peter likes artists who take the simplest of subjects to find the sublime like Giorgio Morandi; artists who create open ended narratives ripe for interpretation such as Max Beckman. He also appreciates photographers who can examine the absurdity of “normal” life like Martin Parr.
“If there is one thing I hope to communicate to viewers through my work,” continues Peter, “it is the importance of slowing down and observing the landscape of our everyday lives, of finding the value in our often mundane and frequent interactions with the urban landscape.”
Peter D. Harris was born in London, Ontario. He completed a degree in Fine Arts at the University of Waterloo in 1997. He is the recipient of several awards, including an Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation grant and an Ontario Arts Council, Mid-Career project grant. His work can be found in private collections in Canada,the United States and Europe.
Links: Website (www.peterharris.ca)
Images used with permission.
On Art and Aesthetics 