Beginnings: 1960s, 1970s & Early 1980s

Instructive, the early work of an artist, in that it shows the sprouts from which may grow a full-blown body of serious and personal creation.

“Looking at much of the work from the 60s and 70s, I see myself in search of a stencil.” —PH, excerpt from “artist statement” for gallery texts, 2008.

This is surely evident in many of Paul Harmon’s bold and tangled black-lined works of the time. His line harkens back to the shadowy, unpredictable black paths of French fauvist/expressionist painter Georges Rouault.

Initially, with his “tabletop” series of works, it appears Paul Harmon is exploring in a very different and softer vein; however, important concepts and elements will later emerge to coalesce with the heavily bordered work of the mature years.