Werkärtz is pleased to present City of Mysteries, the first solo exhibition in Los Angeles by painter Jonathan Harkham.
In 2018, Harkham visited the ancient Villa of Mysteries in Pompeii, Italy, where he spent countless hours studying and sketching the magnificent frescoes depicting Dionysian rituals, that were buried and preserved by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 A. D. This experience significantly influenced his approach to painting and inspired a deeper concentration on composition, the architecture of drawing, and the study of color and light and how they were employed to create the illusion of depth and space, mass, and weight.
That experience marks a turning point for Harkham and this exhibition features the results—a selection of recent paintings made in his downtown L.A. studio that together present a portrait of the city and its inhabitants, the life of an artist, and the practice of painting, bridging the historic frescoes and Harkham’s personal approach.
Jonathan Harkham now lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. Harkham is most known for his process and technique of painting seemingly ordinary moments—snapshots of everyday life and personal connections—Harkham always paints from life and recruits friends and people met through chance encounters to be his models.
As a young immigrant growing up in Los Angeles in the 1970s, he never felt he fit in—his accent and family customs—the duality of being half Iraqi Jew, half Scottish-New Zealander.
He eventually found a community in the street art and punk music scenes in L.A., and this subculture and outsider perspective continues to influence his work. Harkham is deeply engaged with art history and particularly Old Masters and he has acquired endless inspiration through analyzing their styles, techniques, subject matter, and content.
Well studied, Harkham’s works have been featured in solo and group exhibitions crossed the US. He studied at the Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne Australia and received a Certificate of Painting in 2008 from the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, where he teaches an internationally-recognized Marathon painting course twice a year.
He says that “oil paint has almost mystical properties in its depth of color, it’s tactility, and it’s malleability. It has characteristics that allow me to ‘sing’ or ‘scream’ or ‘whisper’, and because of that I have always toiled with it as my primary weapon of choice.”
| WERKÄRTZ AT OLYMPIC DTLA 1013 S. Los Angeles St., 12th Floor Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 90015 www.werkartz.com |
