James C. Harrison

James C. Harrison (November 27, 1925 – November 4, 1990) was a Detroit, Michigan artist based in Brooklyn, New York. His work is complex, layered and full of Jungian, religious and mystical references used to relay his internal battles and demons. Harrison drew inspiration from mythology, psychiatry, poetry, music, philosophy and artists of the past. His ever-evolving style - often equated to Cy Twombly, Robert Rauschenberg and other contemporaries - always maintained a cutting-edge quality that was anchored in his own deep philosophical tendencies.

Life and education Born in Detroit, Michigan on November 27, 1925, James Carter Harrison (after Howard Carter the British archaeologist who excavated King Tut's tomb) Harrison attended Cass Technical High School in Detroit and graduated in 1943 with a degree in commercial art. He went on to attend both the Cranbrook Academy of Art (1944) and Olivet College (1946) for only a single term each, before realizing that a traditional educational setting was not agreeable with him. Thus, he became largely a self-taught artist.

Harrison was awarded and sponsored by Professor Wallace Fowlie of Duke University to attend a three-month residency in 1948 at Yaddo (artist colony) in Saratoga Springs, New York.

In 1950, Harrison moved to New York and worked as a color mixer for a textile manufacturer to support himself, still with aspirations of becoming a recognized artist.

While in New York, Harrison surrounded himself with a group of friends that included James Baldwin and photographers Doug Quackenbush and Larry Clark. He drew inspiration from Jazz, a passion that ignited in him since his beginnings in Detroit, the philosophies of Carl Jung and became more and more consumed by an addiction to drugs and alcohol. From the late 1950s throughout the 1970s he was featured in numerous group exhibitions, but it wasn't until the 1980s that he finally gained recognition of his own right. In 1983, he had his first solo exhibition at A Place Apart Gallery in Brooklyn, New York, and in 1987, the LedisFlam Gallery presented his unaided exhibition, "Forty Year Retrospective".

After a long-standing battle with alcohol and drug abuse, Harrison died from liver failure on November 4, 1990, in Brooklyn, New York.

Early on in his career, Harrison befriended Twombly. Trinkett Clark of the Chrysler Museum writes "the artists exchanged ideas and stylistic tendencies; however, Harrison had stronger connections to the art and goals of Alberto Giacometti. During the 1950s Harrison work reflected what he termed formal "arrangements" that examine the potential of a monochromatic palette as they suggest an elusive being." as:

A community gallery for artist of all ages and backgrounds is generally recognized as the first in Williamsburg. This venue opened in 1982 and operated by Marquerite Munch, is where Chris Martin remembers meeting James Harrison, a legendary Brooklyn eccentric who worked the desk and ended up becoming a mentor to many young artists in Greenpoint and the 'Burg.'

In 2006, the New York Times art critic Ken Johnson reviewed James Harrison. The article Washington, DC 1989: Dart Gallery, Chicago, IL 1989: Galerie Brinkman, Amsterdam, Netherlands 1989: LedisFlam, Brooklyn, NY 1989: Martha Schaeffer Fine Arts, New York, NY 1990: "James Harrison: Portraits 1955-1990", LedisFlam, New York, NY 1992: "James Harrison", Parameters Galleries, the Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA 2006: Luise Ross Gallery, Chelsea, NY 2015: "A Life's Work - James Harrison", Schmidt's Antiques Inc., Detroit Design Center, Detroit, MI 2016: "Remembering Myself", Schmidt's Antiques Inc., Ypsilanti, MI 2017: "Buried Alive", Elephant Room Gallery, Chicago, IL, 2017: "Investigating Identity" at Kreft Gallery, Concordia University, Ann Arbor, MI 2017: "Stepping out of Darkness" at the Michigan Modernism show in Southfield, Michigan 2019: "Imaging Each Other: James C. Harrison & Darin Latimer Art Show", Schmidt's Antiques Inc., Ypsilanti, MI