ABC-ARTE is pleased to announce the first solo exhibition in Italy of American artist Zach Harris, titled Karma Kloud.
Harris’s works explore the concepts of spirituality and abstraction, using a technique that combines painting and sculpture to create complex and layered visual worlds. Inspired by figures such as Kazimir Malevich and influences ranging from the Italian Renaissance to Persian miniature painting, Harris develops a unique vision that blends cosmological, mythological, and spiritual symbols. His compositions, characterized by intricate geometries and a vibrant color palette, invite the viewer to experience a hypnotic and immersive journey. Harris’s “karmic clouds” evoke altered states of consciousness, where utopia and dystopia intertwine in a dialogue between the familiar and the otherworldly.
In his carved and painted panels on stretched linen, Harris moves away from traditional painting conventions, transforming the surfaces into multidimensional landscapes. Hand-carved frames and geometric patterns create a sense of movement and depth, while spiritual and symbolic influences emerge through the masterful use of space and color. These elements, combined with meticulous details and layered visual narratives, engage the viewer in a visual meditation that transcends time and the cosmos.
Following in the footsteps of Kazimir Malevich, a pioneer of abstract art and founder of Suprematism, Harris seeks to transcend the material world to access a transcendent dimension. His works, rich in cosmological and mythological symbols, offer a profound reflection on spirituality and the universe, inviting observers on a metaphysical journey. His frames, intricately carved by hand or laser, recall the craftsmanship of Christian altarpieces, while his compositions echo Tibetan mandalas, playing continuously between materiality and optical illusion.
The project was made possible in collaboration with Perrotin Gallery. The exhibition will be accompanied by a bilingual publication, produced by ABC-ARTE editions, featuring critical essays and a rich documentary section.
Zach Harris (1976 Santa Rosa, California, USA)
Lives and works in Los Angeles, California, USA. Zach Harris’s carved panels and stretched linen paintings unfold complex utopian and dystopian worlds. His psychedelic visions, which almost verge on abstraction, immerse viewers in the unfathomable depths of mysterious cosmologies. The art-historical density of his aesthetics is haunting, in a sense similar to that of late-nineteenth-century symbolism. While the bright coloring of his obsessively detailed paintings is reminiscent of the highly demanding ornamental quality of Persian miniatures, his intricate hand- or laser-engraved frames evoke the elaborate woodwork of Christian altarpieces. Harris is a fervent practitioner of meditation, and the meticulous repetition of painted or carved patterns and motifs within his compositions operates like a mantra. At the same time, it creates a hallucinatory play between the materiality of the relief and its optical illusion, bringing to mind the radial vibrancy and spiritual dimension of Tibetan mandalas. His syncretic art suggests timeless rituals, which, whether lost or prescient, have yet to be deciphered.
