Peter Harkawik

Who is Peter Harkawik?

Peter Harkawik is an artist working in sculpture and photography. His work has been shown in Los Angeles, New York and Paris and is held in several private and public collections. He frequently explores themes of visual perception and intersubjective communication, often drawing from the fields of industrial design and architecture. Writing in the New York Times, Roberta Smith described him as "a younger sort-of painter who favors decals on clear vinyl." He studied at Hampshire College, University of California, San Diego, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and Yale University. He lives and works in Los Angeles, where he is represented by Thomas Solomon Gallery.

Harkawik's work often contains an unacknowledged temporal component: "For instance, in Harkawik's installation Flesh & Flash--a single photograph of the artist's hand gripping a bulbous daikon, the index finger mangled, appeared for weeks to be the work's only component. However, on the final night of the show, Harkawik, adding paint to the photo's surface, introduced a latticelike wooden construction to the wall and a chair to the space, thoughtfully positioned for ideal viewing."