Michael D. Harris

Michael Harris' work revolves around his emotional and political consciousness. Growing up, Harris was always aware of issues dealing with race, integration and struggles. It is in his artwork and his studies of art history where the expression of these thoughts and feelings come together.

The value of education and the importance of a positive future were strongly encouraged within Harris’ family. It was while he was attending college when he developed a social awareness. In 1979, while working on his MFA in painting, Harris joined the group AfriCOBRA, an African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists. The experiences and dialogue that were formed between he and this community of artists had an important influence on his work. His influences are varied, ranging from Gauguin and Motherwell to Betye Saar and Nigerian fieldwork. Harris has continued to develop socially relevant work that has conceptually matured through his study of African and African American art. Merging two disciplines of art and art history, Michael Harris creates a body of work, both culturally sensitive and artistically moving.

He is an artist who uses media as language. The materials used depend on the intended meaning and together they create a poetic dialogue. In his piece, Survivor Patchwork, Michael addresses the history of the Rosewood riot, in which a black town in Florida was completely destroyed and rampaged by mobs of whites. Harris’ son-in-law, who had family in Rosewood, produced the photograph of his predecessors. This work of art serves as a memorial, resembling the shape of a reliquary. It is a patchwork piece, which Harris describes as a ‘tough quilt’ made of leather representing the story and experiences of those afflicted by the riot. The photo creates a dialogue between the viewer and the history. At the bottom of the piece are several objects made meaningful through the assumed relationship to the lives depicted in the photo.

Michael Harris currently teaches African and African American Art at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as well as serves as the curatorial consultant for African American Art and the High Museum of Art, Atlanta. He continues to embrace the importance of education through teaching and through his artwork. Harris’ work develops around synthesizing meaning and it is through his awareness and reflection that he is able to create work with such social relevance.

—Compiled and written by Stephanie Keichian ‘07 and Becky Bivens ‘07

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Survivor Patchwork
2000
Mixed media
31 3/4 x 26 x 5 3/4"