David Harrison lives and works in London. Harrison’s works have been exhibited at venues including Southwark Park Galleries, London, UK (2019); Royal Academy of Art, London, UK (2019); Lungley Gallery, London, UK (2018); Churchgate Gallery, Somerset, UK (2017); Sargent’s Daughters, New York, USA (2016), TRAMPS, London, UK (2017, 2014); VeneKlasen/Werner, Berlin, Germany (2012); Vilma Gold, London, UK (2012, 2003); Daniel Reich Gallery, New York, USA (2008); Galeria OMR, Mexico City (2007); the Arts Centre St. Petersburg, Florida (2005); Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, Sunderland, UK (2005); The Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK (2006, 2004); Whitechapel Project Space, London, UK (2004, 2003); Bloomberg Space, London, UK (2004), and Cubitt Gallery, London, UK (2001).
Your work is full of mythological, folkloric, and supernatural imagery. What draws you to those older forms of storytelling in a modern context?
I’ve always been drawn to the mysterious, and spiritual side of nature. I remember a small child reading wind in the willows, the chapter, Piper at The gates of Dawn, possessed me. The idea that there was a God of nature, Pan, sacred spirit watching over the animal world gave me something more solid to believe in.
Lot 23. David Harrison - I'de Make a Deal with God
When you begin a new painting do you start with a final image or narrative in mind, or does it unfold as you work?
I do have a set image in my mind when I start painting, but things change, and the narrative take second place when applying the paint, and the composition might change to make it more successful painting. Then the narrative will come back towards the end to achieve what I’m what I’m expressing how it looks when it’s finished painting, with colour, composition and narrative becoming one.
You seem to be drawn to the ancient and the wild, the historical and the contemporary. Has that fascination always been there?
Yes, that fascination has always been there. I remember as a very small child growing up post war, East London, rows and rows of bombed-out houses all deserted, this was our playground. They were left that way for many years and nature had taken over trees were growing everywhere Ivy a much greenery, smother in the houses and growing through the shattered floors. There was one particularly beautiful image that stayed with me. There was the old fireplace with a beautiful old mantle, shattered with broken tiles and a tree growing out of the fireplace. And they’re on the mantelpiece was a perfect blackbird’s nest complete with five eggs. Make me realise, whatever we make ugly, nature will make beautiful again.
You populate your paintings with myths, politics, and personal stories, yet nature often takes the lead. What is it about animals and plants that speaks so powerfully to you?
Nature will always speak and remain powerful to me, because it seems to provide hope amidst the devastation and despair that man reeks on earth. There is always a constant battle between man and nature. And I pray that nature wins.
Lot 22. David Harrison - Someone to Watch Over Them
The theme for this year’s Sound and Vision centres on the lyric “If I only could, I’d make a deal with God.” Were you directly influenced by the lyric, or did you approach it from a more personal or alternative perspective?
I had an immediate response to the lyric in the Kate Bush song. This is how I usually work, something has to grab me immediately and set me off on a journey. I also took the whole song into consideration and the music.
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Questions by Victoria Lucas
