Charley Harper

Last Sunday, I went to a Charley Harper Retrospective with my friend, Karen. Harper was a Cincinnati wildlife artist whose career started sometime in the forties and ended when he died in 2007. I'd seen his work around town a lot--on posters for the zoo, the Hamilton County Park District, the Cincinnati Nature Center. It's fun and colorful and frequently has a sense of humor. A few years ago, I went to an opening at a gallery where a friend and former student worked, and they had several Harper prints for sale. I bought two, and I love them. Here they are.






The retrospective was fun. As we wandered around the gallery, I could really see the way he used shape and color in similar ways from work to work. I was just wandering the web, and I found this: When once asked to describe his art style, Harper replied, “When I look at a wildlife or nature subject, I don’t see the feathers in the wings, I just count the wings. I see exciting shapes, color combinations, patterns, textures, fascinating behavior and endless possibilities for making interesting pictures. I regard the picture as an ecosystem in which all the elements are interrelated, interdependent, perfectly balanced, without trimming or unutilized parts; and herein lies the lure of painting; in a world of chaos, the picture is one small rectangle in which the artist can create an ordered universe.” Have a look:



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