alharris-fernandezbookrelease104631__104631

Gallery 72
1806 Vinton Street, Omaha, NE / www.gallery72.com /
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PRESS INFORMATION | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | Omaha, Nebraska | August 17, 2017

Show Title: Wobbly Cubism: Paintings by Al Harris Fernandez
Artists: Al Harris-Fernandez
Show Opening and Book Launch: Friday, September 8, 2017, 5:00 – 9:00 PM
Gallery Talk and Book Signing: Wednesday, September 13, 2017, 7:00 PM
Book: “Al Harris-Fernandez Paintings” including an essay by Janet Stiles Tyson, iart
historian, art critic, university lecturer, and artist.
Show Dates: Friday, September 8 through Saturday, October 7, 2017
Artwork: Paintings, acrylic on canvas
Comments:
Al Harris-Fernandez, director of the Sioux City Art Center, has been balancing the direction of
non-profit arts organizations, while making his own art for thirty years. The artist notes: “I have a
lot of energy to create artwork as well as a strong drive to experiment.”
While producing a large body of work during the time he has resided in Sioux City he chose not
to promote himself as an artist until recently. Before moving to Iowa, Harris-Fernandez showed
extensively in galleries and museums in Texas during the 1980s and 1990s. In 1993 he moved
to Buffalo, New York to direct the art gallery at the State University of New York, Buffalo.
While in Buffalo, he continued to show and was included in two major museum shows. After
accepting the position at the Sioux City Art Center, Harris-Fernandez decided to withdraw from
promoting his work while he explored a number of directions, including editorial like cartoons,
landscapes, made-up portraits, as well as images inspired by TV and movie stills. In 2008, he
began experimenting with abstraction, which was to become an obsession. He refers to this
growing body of work, which has roots in cubism, surrealism, and cartoons as “wobbly cubism.”
In 2014, Harris-Fernandez began sharing his work and began exploring opportunities to exhibit.
The first opportunity was in 2015 when John Rogers, director and owner, included his work in a
four-person show at Gallery 72. Plans for a solo exhibition of a new body of work began in 2016,
while at the same time the artist contacted and shared his work with an art critic that had

reviewed his work for the Fort Worth Star Telegram in the 1980s and ‘90s. As a result, the idea
for a publication took form that would connect the artist’s past work with his present work. The
publication, featuring an essay by Janet Styles Tyson, will be launched concurrent with the
exhibition.


Gallery 72
1806 Vinton Street, Omaha, NE / www.gallery72.com /
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Images

Pathways #1
36” x 36”

Pathways #2
36” x 36”

The Heaven Paintings #1
36” x 36”

Move
20” x 20”

Additional and higher resolution images are available.
Contact:

John Rogers | (402) 496 4797 |
www.Gallery72.com | Gallery 72, 1806 Vinton Street, Omaha NE 68108