Born in 1970, Tracey Harris grew up in Fort Gibson, Oklahoma. As a scholarship recipient, she studied at Kansas City Art Institute in Kansas City, Missouri, receiving a BA in Fine Arts in 1992. After graduation, she studied at Goldsmiths College University of London in England, where she received the Post Graduate Diploma of Art. Harris is a Contemporary Realist painter with a quirky sense of humor and a confident handling of paint.
Harris currently lives and paints in Denver, CO. She has exhibited her work nationwide in group and solo shows, but her most recent series of work reveals her close observations of the human figure and a keen eye for the iconography of modern life. These tongue-in-cheek paintings depict anonymous female subjects variously dressed in 1950’s style dresses or aprons, wearing tool belts or boxing gloves. The series unabashedly portrays desirable flesh in an overtly sexual manner; Harris illuminates the bare torsos and limbs of her figures with a warm, sensual palette. These are not, however, gratuitous displays of the female form. Art historical references abound: the artist’s skilled draftsmanship and ability to manipulate tonal qualities and light effects to indicate three-dimensionality allude to the Renaissance-era female nude; the compositional technique of cropping the figure is at once modern and sourced in Classical antiquity.
TRACEY HARRIS
BORN 1970
PROFESSIONAL TRAINING
1993-1995 Post Graduate Diploma of Art, Goldsmiths’ College University of London, London England
1988-1992 Bachelors’ Degree in Fine Arts, Kansas City Art Institute Kansas City, Missouri
EXPERIENCE
Harris has exhibited both solo and group showings internationally and nationally. She has participated in numerous Juried Art Competitions, has extensive gallery representation, and has exhibited in museums. She has taught art history, painting and drawing at the Kansas City Art Institute and Maplewoods Community College.
INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP SHOWS
"All in a Day's Work" Solo Exhibition September 2014
Wally Workman Gallery Austin Texas
"New Paintings" Solo Exhibition March 2014
M.A. Doran Gallery Tulsa OK
"Etiquette Book" Solo Exhibition March 2013
Wally Workman Gallery Austin TX
"Narrative Fragments" September 2013
Quidley and Company Boston, MA
Solo Exhibition Oct 2012
M A Doran Gallery Tulsa OK
Ellis, Feinstein, Harris May 2012
Craighead Green Gallery Dallas TX
Solo Exhibition Sept 2011
Leslie Powell Foundation Lawton
National Contemporary Realist 2011
M A Doran Gallery Tulsa OK
Go Figure 2011
Elliot Fouts Gallery Sacramento CA
Seven Deadly Sins Dec 2010
Colo Colo Gallery New Haven MA
Solo Exhibition October 2010
M A Doran Gallery Tulsa OK
Solo Exhibition July 2010
JRB Art Gallery OK City OK
National Contemporary Realist 2010
M A Doran Gallery Tulsa OK
OAG National Exhibit
OAG OK City OK
2009 Featured Artist
Leedy Voulkos Art Gallery KCMO
2009 National Contemporary Realists
M.A. Doran Gallery Tulsa OK
2009 National Juried Exhibit
Baker Arts Center KS
Fall 2009 Featured Artist Leedy Voulkos Art Gallery
National Juried Exhibit 2009 Baker Arts Center
Featured Artist March 2009 JRB Art Gallery
Group Shows 2009 Leedy Voulkos Gallery
Seasons III Spring 2009 Ward & Ward
Group Shows 2009 M.A. Doran Gallery
Fall 2008 Festival of Trees Exhibit Philbrook Museum of Art
Centerfold Exhibit 2008 Leslie Powell Foundation
National Contemporary Realists 2008 M.A. Doran Gallery
Tracey Harris, An Introspective 2008 Ward & Ward
Gallery Artists Spring and Fall 2008 M.A. Doran Gallery
Two Painters Chelsea’s
New Paintings Michael Cross Gallery
Group Show Telephone Booth Gallery
Tracey Harris, Betsy Greenwood Firehouse Gallery
Juror’s choice Exhibition KCAC Mallin Gallery
KCAC Action and Show KCAC Mallin Gallery
DAD Gasworks Gallery, London, England
Goldsmiths’ Artists Chisenhale Gallery, London, England
AWARDS AND EXHIBITIONS
Margaret Lee Award 2008
Philbrook Museum of Art Finalist 2008
International Artist Magazine Honorable Mention 2008
Leslie Powell Gallery Best of Painting
Mayfest International Tulsa Oklahoma Honorable Mention
Baker Arts Center Honorable Mention
Portland Oregan Juror’s Choice
Kansas City Artist’s Coalition Liquitex Painting Award
Kansas City Art Institute Kansas City Art Institute Silver Scholar Award
Kansas City Art Institute First Prize
United States Congressional Arts Competition Best of Show
Oklahoma Young Talent Exhibition First Prize
United State Congressional Arts Competition Best of Show
Oklahoma Young Talent Exhibition
GALLERIES
M. A. Doran Gallery Tulsa, Oklahoma
Ward & Ward Kansas City, Missouri
Eva Reynolds Fine Arts Incorporated Leawood, Kansas
JRB Art Gallery Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Leslie Powell Gallery Lawton, Oklahoma
Leedy Voulkos Art Gallery Kansas City, Missouri
MUSEUM COLLECTION
National Museum of the United States Air Force
Commissioned Portrait of Major William McClendon Dayton, Ohio
PUBLICATIONS
Finalist “People and Figures”, December/ January issue 2009, International Artist Magazine
Oklahoma Today, December /January issue 2009, Oklahoma Today
MEMBERSHIPS
Oil Painters of America
Portrait Society of America
Oklahoma Visual Arts Council
I draw my subject matter from my experiences of raising my son from birth, on my own. My figurative images of women appear powerful (and sometimes snarky). When someone encounters the work for the first time, there is laughter and a universal understanding of the difficulties in life and the importance of laughing at oneself… It is only natural to put it in the work.