Christopher E. Harrison
This series of artworks uses appropriated and self-created
images that address the mythic, and sometimes truthful,
African-American cultural persona. By rendering the surface
decay of images, textured materials, and language, the visual
disintegration within the works informs the breakdown of the
cultural psyche that has persisted over centuries of oppression,
miseducation, and division of the Black race throughout history.
I see my current approach as a form of political and civic
engagement for myself. This view has grown out of my experiences
trying to understand social issues within my culture and the
development of my identity as an artist, as a Black man, and as
an American, while mining those issues as inspiration. Using
references ranging from comics to historical icons, I question and
challenge the sometimes stereotypical tropes within the greater
social zeitgeist that exists to inspire a more honest depiction of
Black lives in our minds and hearts.