Zach Harris’s Opening Reception was this Thursday, August 1st, and drew a crowd of around 100 people. The gathering was planned as a celebration of Harris’s sculptures as they interact with the museum’s Frank Gehry-designed-buildings and the Live Oaks on the campus. Harris was present to speak with museum members and visitors about the work. Harris’s artist statement speaks of his intentions with the body of work:

Inorganic Accoutrements

Zachary Harris was born and resides in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture from Mississippi State University in 2011 and a Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture from the University of Georgia in 2018. In 2012, Harris was awarded a commission by Jackson County for a work to be permanently placed on the campus of the Jackson County General Services Complex in Pascagoula, MS.

Harris has a passion for framing his influence of nature and for the well-designed. He views his sculptures as archetypes in choreographed space. His works project themselves form the ground with a force-like entelechy. Etching themselves into the presence of the viewer. His background includes dabbling in subjects of land conservation, environmental system design specific to park design, watershed management systems, landscape architecture, and Design Thinking.

Using his affinity for tectonics, Harris invites participants and viewers to experience a familiar space in a new way. He believes his objects to enhance a view while more importantly enhancing the experience of a viewer.

The works are less about their title or what he was thinking and are more about projecting an opportunity for a viewer to foster an interior dialogue of which his motives become constructively and divergently separate from the artist and his vision for the viewer. It is here that Harris manipulates dense inert materials to balance with environment freeing them from finite definition.

As with all opening receptions at the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art, admission was free for every exhibit on view during the event. Wine and light hors d’oeuvres were served. A welcome new addition to the event was Makin’ Groceries, a new local catering service. They provided shrimp tacos with yum yum slaw that were an incredible hit, selling out just before the event concluded. Thank you to everyone that came, and be sure to mark the next opening reception on your calendar. More info on new exhibits is coming later this month!