The Sower

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The Sower

Artist Robert ParkeHarrison (American, born 1968)

Artist Shana ParkeHarrison (American, born 1964)

Printer John Goodman , Boston, Massachusetts

Date2002

Dimensionsimage: 22 1/8 x 18 5/8 in. (560 x 474 mm)
sheet: 27 3/4 x 23 3/4 in. (703 x 600 mm)

MediumMulticolor photogravure on acid free mold made paper

ClassificationPhotographs

Credit LineCarl B. Spitzer Fund

Object number

2002.24

Not on View

DescriptionOne photogravure on acid free mould made paper. Signed, titled, and numbered below image on recto. This is one of five in a new series by the artist, completed summer 2002. Printed by John Goodman in Boston, sheet is embossed with his chop. One photogravure on acid free mould made paper. Signed, titled, and numbered below image on recto. This is one of five in a new series by the artist, completed summer 2002. Printed by John Goodman in Boston, sheet is embossed with his chop.

Label TextCasting himself as the protagonist in carefully choreographed photographs, Robert ParkeHarrison creates, along with his wife Shana, elaborate sets that call attention to humanity’s responsibility toward environmental issues. An “Everyman” figure, dressed in a black suit and white shirt, scatters seeds across a field in a whimsical flying machine, attempting to heal a landscape that has been wounded by modern society’s abuses. Such invented machines, often present in the couple’s work, illustrate the need to use technology and scientific inquiry to restore the natural world rather than to degrade it. The ParkHarrisons’ theatrical photographic narratives are the result of a process that includes elements of sculpture, installation, and performance. The artists use photogravure, a process popular at the turn of the 20th century in which a photographic negative is transferred to an etching plate and printed with ink. The technique imbues their images with a dream-like softness that highlights the poetic reveries of humanity’s relationship to nature.Published Referencescf.: ParkeHarrison, Robert. The Architect's Brother, Santa Fe, N.M: Twin Palms Publishers, 2000. cf.: Bayliss, Sarah. "Excuse me, while I fix the sky." Art News 100 no. 3 (March 2001), p. 14-15 cf.: Ollman, Arthur. Fragments of Document and Memory, The 3rd Tokyo International Photo-Biennale. cf.: Albahari, Steve and John Wood, 21ST: THE JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY 2nd ed., September 1999. cf.: Van De Walle, Mark, ARTFORUM, March 1995, pp. 95-96.