Holly Harrison
"I'm starting to focus my bird paintings on murmurations," she says. "I would like for people to stand before an expanse of birds, to see their wildness and beauty, and to be reminded that they are worth protecting."
Mixed-media artist Holly Harrison's art training began in poetry, and it continues to inform her creative process. Her Poetic Grid series is comprised of semi-abstract compositions that are akin to visual poems. Fields of color alternate with fields of collage; and meaning is created and gleaned through the resonant conversations that occur between them. The collage papers she uses are both meaningful and random: shopping lists, vintage comics, book and magazine pages, junk mail, her daughter's early doodles, and even pieces of her husband's works on paper. These elements bring with them a sense of story, which she obscures with washes of paint. What remains is mysterious, an impression or hint that asks the viewer to look more closely.
A second series focuses on the interplay between the organic shapes and fluidity of birds and the geometry of repeated horizontal lines. Harrison began working with bird imagery years ago, inspired by the Wallace Stevens poem "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird." Over time, her engagement with birds has led her to appreciate their strength as well as their fragility in the face of human impact and climate change.
Harrison lives and works in Concord, MA. She received an MA in creative writing from The City College of New York and a BA from Wesleyan University. Her artwork has been featured at galleries and museums throughout the country and is held in private and corporate collections nationally and internationally. Additionally, she has curated two well-received shows at the Concord Center for the Visual Arts, where she was subsequently invited to join the Board of Trustees.
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The Salon Show 2023
Group Show of Gallery Artists (Boston, MA) 25 Oct - 10 Dec 2023Closing Reception: Friday, December 1st 6:00 - 8:00 PM Clint Baclawski • Teddy Benfield • Mishael Coggeshall-Burr • Alison Croney Moses • Cathy Della Lucia • Holly Harrison • Josh...Read more -
Size Matters
Allison Baker | Holly Harrison | Cassandra C. Jones | Coral Woodbury 20 Jul - 28 Aug 2022Opening Reception: Friday, August 5th from 5-8pm Abigail Ogilvy Gallery is proud to present Size Matters, featuring gallery artists Allison Baker, Holly Harrison, Cassandra C. Jones, and Coral Woodbury. These...Read more -
The Salon Show
Group Exhibition with Represented Artists 1 Dec 2021 - 16 Jan 2022Featuring: Clint BaclawskI | Teddy Benfield | Pelle Cass | Mishael Coggeshall-BurR | Lisa FosteR | Holly Harrison | Lavaughan Jenkins | Cassandra C. Jones | Richard Keen | Katelyn...Read more -
Back Together
Group Exhibition 10 Jun - 18 Jul 2021Featuring: Clint Baclawski | Teddy Benfield | Mishael Coggeshall-Burr | Austin Eddy | Marlon Forrester | Holly Harrison | Lavaughan Jenkins | Katelyn Ledford | Kristina McComb | Susan Murie...Read more -
The Salon Show
Group Exhibition with Represented & Emerging Artists 5 Dec 2019 - 26 Jan 2020Featuring: Clint Baclawski | Mishael Coggeshall-Burr | Keenan Derby | Katherine Mitchell DiRico | Austin Eddy | Lisa Foster | Ariel Basson Freiberg | Holly Harrison | Lavaughan Jenkins |...Read more -
Collected Stories
Featuring works by Holly Harrison and Kristina McComb 19 Dec 2018 - 17 Feb 2019Abigail Ogilvy Gallery is proud to present Collected Stories, a duo exhibition featuring new works by Holly Harrison and Kristina McComb. Both Harrison and McComb are drawn to the idea...Read more -
The Visitors
A Pop-Up Exhibition 21 - 25 Feb 2018Abigail Ogilvy Gallery is proud to present The Visitors, our first pop-up exhibition in Houston, TX. This exhibition is curated to showcase strong artworks by our represented and featured artists,...Read more