Interior Nature: The Paintings and Drawings of Marvin Harden, 1961–2004
December 4 – February 5
Opening reception Saturday, December 3, 7–9 p.m.
Organized by Jay Belloli, Armory Director of Gallery Programs
The Armory is proud to present the first retrospective of Marvin Harden’s work, including more than 100 paintings, drawings and prints. He combines the visual language of abstract art with recognizable subjects such as timeless images of rural and wild nature. For Harden, art is a spiritual journey. His works evoke the being and otherness of the fauna, flora and specific locations of the natural world. Harden’s work reflects inward nature, the part seen in the spirit.This exhibition is Harden’s first retrospective, and the first one-person show the Armory has organized of an African-American artist. Harden has received numerous awards including fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and UCLA. His work is in many private and public collections, including the Getty Trust, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Museum of Modern Art, New York. He was a Professor of Art at California State University at Northridge from 1967–1997.