Theodore A. Harris. Postcard from Conquest, 2008, collection of Beatrice Jauregui and Anand Rao.
Among the works in Theodore Harris's upcoming solo exhibition is 'After Nina Simone 1, half here / half gone' (Thesentür Conscientious Objector to Formalism series). 2022, triptych, digital image, collection of the artist. The exhibition, 'Thesentür/The Thinker: Nina Simone and the Politics of Music,' opens Nov. 14 and runs through Dec. 20 at the Center for Emerging Visual Artists at the Barclay on Rittenhouse Square, 237 South 18th Street, #3a, Philadelphia.
ExhibitionsNov. 14-Dec. 20, 2024: Solo exhibition, Thesentür/The Thinker: Nina Simone and the Politics of Music, Center for Emerging Visual Artists (CFEVA). In the Barclay on Rittenhouse Square, 237 South 18th Street, #3a, Philadelphia. Opening Reception: Thursday, Nov. 14, 5-7 pm; exhibition catalogue available. Gallery Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, noon-6 pm. CFEVA is closed on November 28, 29, and 30.
Through Jan. 31, 2025: Our Flesh of Flames by Theodore Harris and Amiri Baraka, Art Department, Parkway Central Library, Philadelphia. Opening reception: Monday, Nov. 25, 5-7:30 pm.
July 26, 2024-Jan. 1, 2025: Group exhibition, Groundings, Christ Church Neighborhood House, 20 N. American Street, Philadelphia.
Installation view of Theodore Harris's work in 'Groundings,' up through Jan. 1, 2025, at Christ Church Neighborhood House. (Photo: Emily B. Schilling)
Opened JUNE 24 (Colorado): Buffalo Soldiers: reVision, permanent exhibition examining the complex legacy of the Buffalo Soldiers in the American West, and highlighting ethnic, gender, and racial identities in the landscape of the southern Colorado borderlands. A core part of Fort Garland Museum and Cultural Center's offerings for the next several years, the exhibit features works by eight artists from across the United States: Chip Thomas (lead artist); Esther Belin; Mahogany L. Browne; Rosie Carter; Gaia; André Leon Gray; Theodore A. Harris; and Tom Judd. Fort Garland Museum and Cultural Center, 29477 Highway 159, Fort Garland, Colorado.
APRIL 6, 7 - 8:30 pm: "VETOED DREAMS: PUBLIC ART IN THE AGE OF INSURRECTION" talk [watch on Youtube] at Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, part of Rising Sun: Artists in an Uncertain America, a collaborative, multivenue exhibition presented by The African American Museum in Philadelphia (AAMP) and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), up through October 8, 2023. Commissioned new works examine the timely question: “Is the sun rising or setting on the experiment of American democracy?” Installations by 20 celebrated artists explore themes of equality, free speech, and other tenets of democracy. For information on the exhibition, events and programs, visit RisingSunPhilly.org. AAMP: 701 Arch Street; and PAFA: 118-128 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia.
Oct. 11-Nov. 21, 2021
Theodore A. Harris: Art as Social Praxis Dedicated to Art Historian David Craven Curated by Thea Gahr Exhibition and artist residency The Linfield Art Gallery, Linfield University McMinnville, OR Opening reception & artist talk: Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021, at 6 p.m. Our Flesh of Flames reissuedOur Flesh of Flames, by Amiri Baraka and Theodore A. Harris, is once again available. Purchase your copy from Moonstone Publishing, and check back here for readings and other events.
Photo: Brent Reaney
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EventsNov. 23, 2 pm, Artist Talk and Book Launch, for a the new and expanded edition of his book, Our Flesh of Flames: Collages by Theodore A. Harris and Captions by Amiri Baraka. The reading will be followed by a conversation between Harris and Taji Ra’oof Nahl / TR7 in the Parkway Central Library's Montgomery Auditorium. In conjunction with an exhibition on view in the Art Department and Literature Department 2nd floor hallway galleries, up through Jan. 31, 2025.
Performance, Friday, Dec. 6, 5:30 - 7 pm: "Hearing Justice: A Sonic Response in Solidarity with a Colonial Critique" by Walter Gershon, PhD; and Taji Ra’oof Nahl / TR7. Center for Emerging Visual Artists (CFEVA). In the Barclay on Rittenhouse Square, 237 South 18th Street, #3a, Philadelphia.
Talk, Thursday, Dec. 12, 5:30-7 pm: Theodore A. Harris in conversation with poet, critic, and catalogue contributor Stan Mir. Center for Emerging Visual Artists (CFEVA). In the Barclay on Rittenhouse Square, 237 South 18th Street, #3a, Philadelphia.
Reading, Sunday, July 28, 2024, at 3:30 p.m.: Black Fire - This Time, Vol. 2: A Poetry Reading with the Moonstone Arts Center, Barnes & Noble, 1708 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia.
Thursday, April 6, 2023, 7 to 8:30 p.m.: "VETOED DREAMS: PUBLIC ART IN THE AGE OF INSURRECTION," talk at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. As we consider the current challenges of democracy in America, public artists in Philadelphia continue to make visible the experience of and response to systemic racism and white supremacy. Join multidisciplinary artist Theodore A. Harris, the anonymous art collective Mz. Icar, and poet Lamont B. Steptoe in a conversation moderated by Dr. Mey-Yen Moriuchi to examine how the public art landscape has changed over time.
PAFA, 118-128 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA. $5 – $10. Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021, at 6 p.m.: Opening reception and artist talk with Theodore A. Harris. The Linfield Art Gallery, Linfield University, McMinnville, OR
March 27, 2021, 5 to 6 p.m., "The Poetic History Book of Theodore A. Harris: Collagist, Activist, Curator." Interview with Tina Brock on "Into the Absurd: A Virtually Existential Dinner Conversation," produced by the Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium.
Click to watch the interview on Youtube
Dec. 4, 2020, 1 to 4 p.m. (U.S. Eastern Time), Theodore A Harris presents recent work at the sixth annual Philadelphia Avant-Garde Studies Consortium symposium, "Ad Absurdum: The Politics and Poetics of Absurdity in Avant-Garde Art and Thought," free webinar hosted by the Kislak Center, University of Pennsylvania. To reserve, click here.
Online PAFA Pours talk, "The Visuality of Covering," Thursday, May 21, 5:30 to 6:30 pm. Harris talks about one of his works in the PAFA collection, Vetoed Dreams (1995), in conversation with PAFA's Contemporary Curator, Jodi Throckmorton, and Curator of the John Rhoden Collection, Brittany Webb; and about ways people cover themselves, historical depictions of covering, and current makers. The conversation was recorded and can be played on PAFA's Youtube channel, here.
Theodore A. Harris leads a tour of his exhibition, “'Thesentür: Conscientious Objector to Formalism' series in Conversation with the Henry Charles Lea Library,” Kislak Center, University of Pennsylvania, November 2019.
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NewsEburne, Jonathan P. "After Somebody Blew Up America: An Interview with Theodore A. Harris and Jonathan P. Eburne." ASAP/J, Sept. 23, 2021, concurrently published with:
Heon, John. "Theodore A. Harris: Master Unmasker of Hidden Histories." ASAP/J, by the Association for the Study of the Arts of the Present (ASAP). Together, the two companion pieces offer rich insight into Harris's creative process and the wide-reaching effects of his work. ASAP is an international, nonprofit dedicated to discovering and articulating the aesthetic, cultural, ethical, and political identities of the contemporary arts. Emmelhainz, Irmgard. "Art as Seeing Through Neoliberal De-reification." NONsite.org, Issue #36, May 9, 2021.
Form and Politics, Kristin Prevallet's interview with Theodore A. Harris in BOMB Magazine, Nov. 2, 2020.
Click for Kristin Prevallet's interview with Theodore A. Harris in BOMB Magazine
African American Review. Johns Hopkins University Press, Vol. 53, No. 3, Fall 2020. Cover art.
New Thesentür works by Theodore A. Harris are published, along with his essay, in "Thesentür Re-Imagines Marker & Resnais, 'Statues Also Die'" on the website, Chris Marker: Notes from the Era of Imperfect Memory, June 20, 2020. In his introduction to Harris's work, Daniel L. Potter writes: "In the midst of the greatest civil uprising since the late 1960s ... it was extremely apropos to receive email correspondence from Mr. Theodore A. Harris regarding an art project in his Thesentür series, inspired by Marker’s, Resnais’ and Ghislain Cloquet’s 1953 film Les Statues meurent aussi. The potent critique of art imperialism and Africa has only become available for viewing recently...."
Writes Harris: "What gripped me was how the English and French text were translating each other [in closed captioning] against the animated images, of the looted, functional art from a stolen people, robbed blind by the bloodied-braille of an alien language." Visit www.chrismarker.org for the essay and searing new artworks, as well as a link to the film on Youtube. 
The Idea of the Avant Garde - And What It Means Today (Intellect Books, 2019, 434 pages), edited by Marc James Léger, includes an essay by Léger, "Austerity and Impunity, and a Few Words with Theodore A. Harris."
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