John Harlan Norris
Contact: jharlannorris@gmail.com

Artist Statement:

We all experience moments in which the roles we play in our daily lives come to define us in powerful ways. In the pursuit of prosperity, leisure, social status, and personal meaning, we often assume identities that both define and fail to define us. My current body of work explores the possibilites and limitations of our daily occupations at a time in which we frequently change jobs, balance multiple roles, and cannot easily delineate between private and public life.

Traditionally, the painted portrait has sought to convey both the individual characteristics of the sitter and tell us something about their role in society. In particular, the genre of occupational portraiture has described its subjects through the lens of their working lives. The portraits in this body of work seek to reinterpret this genre by deemphasizing the sitters' individual characteristics in order to create images of figures entirely consumed by their given occupations. The works concentrate on tools, uniforms, and ofther signifiers that both define the sitters' roles and obscure their identifying qualities. Inevitably, despite the attempt to faithfully translate each subject's position, this unwiedly process of piling on and covering up results in a certain amount of confusion and incongruity, perhaps reflecting the rapidly changing nature of our work and its influence over how we see ourselves. Ultimately, I view this body of paintings as a kind of group portrait; one that is both intensely descriptive and curiously elusive.

Solo Exhibitions:

Dumois Gallery, New Orleans, LA, 2013 (upcoming)

Occupants, Bradbury Gallery, Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, AR, 2012

Occupants, BRG Center for Contemporary Art, Baton Rouge, LA, 2012

Passengers, Texas A & M University at Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, TX, 2011

Searchers, Nicholls State University, Thibodaux, LA, 2011

Dark Side of the Room, University of Arkansas at Monticello, Monticello, AR, 2010

New Paintings, Aegon Gallery, Centre College, Danville, KY, 2008

Inanimates, Plus/One Gallery, Baton Rouge, LA, 2008

The Still Beat, Foster Gallery, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, 2005

Group Exhibitions:

Price is Right, David Lusk Gallery, Memphis, TN, 2012

49th Annual Juried Exhibition, Masur Museum of Art, Monroe, LA, 2012
Juror: Liza Simone, Director, Phantom Galleries Los Angeles, Merit Award Winner

New Directions '12, Barrett Art Center, Poughkeepsie, NY, 2012
Juror: Susan Cross, Curator, Mass MoCA

Annual Juried Show, Contemporary Arts Center Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, 2012
Juror: Mat Gleason, Critic/Curator

You, Me, and Everybody Else, MOCA DC, Washington D.C., 2012

Delta Exhibition, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR, 2012

Price is Right, David Lusk Gallery, Memphis, TN, 2011

Faculty Biennial, Bradbury Gallery, Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, AR, 2011

25th International Juried Exhibition, Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Summit, NJ, 2011
Juror: Joan Young, Associate Curator, Guggenheim Museum, New York

Southworks National, Ocenee Cultural Arts Foundation, Watkinsville, GA, 2011
Juror: Phaedra Siebert, Curator, Arkansas Art Center, Merit Award Winner

Texas National, Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX, 2011

Couplings, Gallery 110, Seattle, WA, 2011

Small Works on Paper Traveling Exhibition, ten locations throughout Arkansas, 2011
Juror: Patter Hellstrom, Curator/Artist, Purchase Award Winner

Tallahassee International, Florida State University Museum of Fine Arts, Tallahassee, FL, 2010

Price is Right, David Lusk Gallery, Memphis, TN, 2010

Artifice, Studio2Gallery, Austin, TX, 2010

Faculty Biennial, Bradbury Gallery, Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, AR, 2009

Price is Right, David Lusk Gallery, Memphis, TN, 2009

2009 Juried Exhibition, First Street Galery, New York, NY, 2009
Juror: Patterson Sims, Curator

American Dream, Shaw Center for the Arts, Baton Rouge, LA, 2009

Spring Exhibition, Emerald Art Center, Springfield, OR, 2009

Surrealist Ball, Ephemeral Gallery, Baton Rouge, LA, 2009

Juried Fine Arts Exhibition, Mills Pond Gallery, St. James, NY, 2008
Juror: Tina Kukielski, Senior Curatorial Assistant, Whitney Museum of American Art, Honorable Mention Award

Group Exhibition, Baton Rouge Gallery: Center for Contemporary Art, Baton Rouge, LA, 2008

Faculty Exhibition, HIlliard Art Museum, University of Louisiana, Lafayette, LA, 2008

Group Exhibition, Mindpuddles Gallery, Houston, TX, 2007

Four Person Exhibition, Moreland Studio, Baton Rough, LA, 2006

Crushed Crushes, ARC Gallery, Chicago, IL, 2005

Sectrets Revealed, Morlan Gallery, Transylvania University, Lexington, KY, 2002

Arts on Main Juried Exhibition, Louisville, KY, 2000
Juror: Julien Robson, Contemporary Curator, Speed Museum, Audience Award Winner

Grants and Awards:

Arkansas Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship, 2012

Arkansas State University Faculty Research Award, 2011

Arkansas State University Art Department Teaching Award, 2010, 2011

Graduate Enhancement Award, Louisiana State University, 2003

Mildred Wood Art Prize, Centre College, 2000

Professional Experience:

2008-Present: Assistant Professor of Art: Painting and Drawing, Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, AR

2007-2008: Adjunct Instructor, University of Louisiana, Lafayette, LA

2005-2008: Adjunct Instructor, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA

2003-2005: Graduate Instructor, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA

Education:

Master of Fine Arts: Painting and Drawing, Louisiana State University, 2005

Bachelor of Arts, Double Major: Studio Art / English, Centre College, 2000

Links:

Teaching Blog: norrisartclass.blogspot.com

Music: thestillbeat.com