Zach Harris's series "Last Judgment" is exemplary of his intricately detailed compositions on carved and painted wood panels. The paintings array an abundance of ink drawn miniature scenes on raw linen. Floating human figures, wild animals, religious symbols, enchanted landscapes and chimerical architectures populate the work, surrounding an abstract geological-strata-like carving on wood panel. The work, obsessively detailed and captivating and is deeply influenced by Italian renaissance-era and baroque painting.
The feeling of atemporality and mystery that arises from Harris’s works can be explained by the density of art-historical references that inform his practice. Critics have suggested, amongst others, relationships to Italian painting as well as Byzantine patterns and devotional icon figures, Tibetan mandala and late 19th century symbolism. Synthesizing diverse traditions his works seems to allude to an endless geography, or ancien language, distinctively crafted and hypnotic to the viewer.
Zach Harris, b.1976, Santa Rosa, CA. Lives and works in Los Angeles. Harris' work is included in many prominent private and public collections, including The Hammer Museum, The Santa Barbara Museum of Art, and Princeton University Art Museum. Recent solo exhibitions include Echo Parked In A No Vex Cave, at David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, and Central Park In A No Vex Cave, at Zach Feuer, New York, NY.