“Activating the Surface” an exhibition of thirty drawings by the historically significant artist Paul Harris (1925-2018) conveys a lifetime of understanding the world through color and line. Known for his sculptures, these drawings bring patterns and textures into a relationship with space through depictions of flowers, fruit and doorways done with a modernist’s eye toward acknowledging the flat surface.  Sponsored in part by the Bozeman Art Museum, Montana Art Galleries and Directors Association, and the family of Paul Harris, these pieces, selected from the Paul Harris Art Collection, evoke the lectures from one of Harris’ early teachers, Hans Hofmann. Hofmann, the quintessential abstract expressionist teacher, spoke about “activating the surface” by balancing the page and presenting perspectives through the strength of pure color.

Paul Harris exhibited his work both internationally and around the US in various museums including the Museum of Modern Art, the Los Angeles Country Art Museum, The San Francisco Museum of Art, and the Berkeley Museum of Art, to name a few.