Death Do Us Part: a collection of works by Texas-based artist Marshall Harris

Death Do Us Part 
October 12th-November 16th, 2013
Dallas’ Red Arrow Contemporary

Death Do Us Part brings an unprecedented collection of unusually large and startling artworks to Red Arrow Contemporary in Dallas on October 12. Artist Marshall Harris of Fort Worth, noted for his large-scale, hyper-realistic drawings, exhibits more than a dozen creations at his debut solo show.

Winner of the 2013 Hunting Art Prize, Mr. Harris combines a number of works in myriad media – including several of his distinctive graphite-on-Mylar drawings, photography, cast-resin sculpture and a video creation - comprising a multi-faceted perspective on death.

“The term death is most often associated with the end of something – life being the obvious example - but when considered in broader terms, it can be redefined as transition. The finish of something becomes the start of another. Death marks the transitional point from the arrival at an ending and departure to a beginning,” Mr. Harris says.

His compositions in works seen in Death Do Us Part examine the details found in such transitions. He believes that “death can be the moment when a loved one becomes a departed relative, or a functional item transforms into something uniquely familiar but no longer what it was. Life causes an instant and unalterable effect on everything around us– as does death.”

The centerpiece of Death Do Us Part, “Stripping the Flesh and Bone of this Mortal Coil,” is a 2-D/3-D installation. Among its components is a 25-foot-long cloudscape drawing in graphite on Mylar, untraditionally hung in the center of the gallery to allow viewing from both sides. Suspended above the drawing is an installation of thousands of obituary photographs of the dearly departed.

Another study of a subject in post-life, “9”, Mr. Harris’ series of a feline skull provides an illuminating view of a tiny subject, a look at crevices, cavities, teeth and the porous nature of bone in ways impossible to access in life.

A Fort Worth native, Mr. Harris earned his fine arts degree from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth and an MFA from University of the Arts in Philadelphia. While working on drawings, he teaches at TCU in Fort Worth.

Death Do Us Part continues until November 16

Red Arrow Contemporary
1130 Dragon St., Suite 110
Dallas, TX 75207
redarrowcontemporary.com

 www.marshallharrisstudios.com