Michael Harnish · Afterglow

August 15, 2020 – September 12, 2020 (Virtual) 

Artist Michael Harnish 

Afterglow

In his new body of work, Michael Harnish cuts out and assembles photographs from contemporary and vintage fashion magazines alongside imagery from botanical books, building relationships across seemingly distant visual genres. Hard, gestural cuts and tears contrast with tonal gradations and deliberately haphazard compositional moves. Harnish’s work also demonstrates a sensitivity to color through his combination of muted pastel tones and saturated fluorescents. He calls his style “California romanticism”—semi-wild and photogenic landscapes interrupted by tattered street advertisements.

About the artist: 

Born in Los Angeles and based in Orange County (MFA, LCAD ‘10), Michael Harnish haphazardly cuts, tears, and assembles found photographs from contemporary and vintage fashion magazines alongside imagery from botanical books. His work encompasses both small-scale collaging with scraps of paper and large scale floral paintings.