Viewing, Jane Harris at CLOSE Gallery

A riveting double bill across two cities is coming this month, dedicated to the late, great Abstract painter Jane Harris. Organised by CLOSE Gallery in close collaboration with the Harris estate, the two exhibitions in London and Somerset explore different aspects of the artist’s exceptional practice, offering an unprecedented insight and access.

Harris was born in Dorset in 1956, and studied at the Slade, graduating in 1981, later gaining an MA Fine Art from Goldsmiths College in 1991. She was a lecturer in Fine Art at Goldsmiths from 1991 until 2006, when she moved to France. Her work is held in many major collections in the UK and abroad, including Arts Council England; Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge and FRAC MÈCA, who held the last major Harris exhibition, in 2024.

‘Aloof’, in London, is an exploration of Harris’ lifelong interest in surface, colour and light, through more intimately-scaled works and her playful side as an artist. Meanwhile in Somerset, ‘The Fugitives’ fills the gallery with monumental, ambitious works with illusory surfaces and thrilling visual effects. These works chart not only Harris’ endless experimentation and fascination with the possibilities of abstraction, but her masterful handling of technique, colour and form. A true pioneer who is yet to be fully appreciated and acknowledged in the UK.