Peter D. Harris, B.A.

Artist Statement

¨Empty parking lots, highways and gas stations are all worthy subjects in my eyes as I continue to study the modern North American landscape. My curiosity about the landscape that surrounds me in my day to day life evolved from a time when I was painting more nature based landscapes. I found myself wanting to paint something more personal and less idealized than the romanticized view of Canada as nature preserve- rugged and untouched. Instead, I felt the need to create art from the places that I visited on a daily basis, to try and discover the beauty in the most mundane urban developments and to coax interesting paintings from these banal subjects. It was no longer about searching out a beautiful subject to make a beautiful painting; it became about the ability of light to transform a scene and create a painting that would get people thinking anew about their surroundings.¨

Peter D. Harris was born in London, Ontario in 1974, and currently lives and works in Toronto, Ontario. He completed a degree in Fine Arts at the University of Waterloo in 1997. In the last 10 years he has exhibited his oil paintings in group and solo exhibitions in Canada and the United States. He has won several awards for his continuing series of urban inspired landscape paintings, including an Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation grant a Waterloo Region Arts Fund project grant. He has also completed artist residencies in both Spain and Costa Rica. His work can be found in collections in Canada, the United States and Europe.

Solo Exhibitions

2009 - New Paintings, Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto, ON
2008 - New Paintings, Shayne Gallery, Montreal, QC
2008 - Urban landscapes, Marten Arts, Bayfield, ON
2007 - New Paintings, Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto, ON
2006 - The Spaces Between, Robert Langen Gallery, Sir Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON
2002 - Inside², Rotunda Gallery, Kitchener City Hall, Kitchener, ON
2000 - Urban Planner, Robert Langen Gallery, Sir Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON
Sunday Dinner Series, Rotunda Gallery, Kitchener City Hall, Kitchener, ON
1998 - Cathedral Series Drawings, Princess Cinema Gallery, Waterloo, ON

Group Exhibitions

2008 - The Shayne Gallery, Montréal, Québec, Canada
2008 - Toronto International Art Fair, (Mira Godard Gallery), Toronto, ON
Reflections on Spring, Oxford Gallery, Rochester, New York, USA
2007 - review-2007, Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto, ON
Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition, Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto, ON
Toronto International Art Fair, (Mira Godard Gallery), Toronto, ON
2006 - Toronto International Art Fair, (Mira Godard Gallery), Toronto, ON
Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition, Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto, ON
2005 - Lost Paradise, Oxford Gallery, Rochester, New York, USA
Landscape-Cityscape, Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto, ON
Three New Artists, Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto, ON
Winter Landscapes, Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto, ON
Toronto International Art Fair, (Mira Godard Gallery), Toronto, ON
Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition, Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto, ON
2004 - Rotunda Gallery 10th yr Anniversary Salon Exhibition, Rotunda Gallery, Kitchener, ON
Present Tense, Oxford Gallery, Rochester, New York, USA
Homecoming, University of Waterloo Art Gallery, Waterloo, ON
Antecedents, Artery Gallery, Kitchener, ON
Insights, Wellington County Museum & Archives, Elora, ON