“PROMISE MADE. PROMISE KEPT” ChrisRWK
HARMAN PROJECTS
February 11th - March 4th, 2023
“The past five years have been rough. I Lost my Dad, my Mom, my Mother-in-Law, my dog, six friends and have dealt and am dealing with other things. The art is my sanity. The staying busy and moving helps me process stuff. Writing a word like forever over and over is cathartic. Once I lost those people they were gone forever but only on earth. They’ll forever be in my thoughts and my heart and the work.”
Chris RWK is an innovative artist based in New York City whose work spans a variety of mediums including painting, sculpture, photography and video. He is widely known for his unique combination of street art and abstract expressionism, which has earned him critical acclaim and a large following.
Born in Brooklyn, Chris RWK has spent his entire life living and creating in the hustle and bustle of New York City. His art often incorporates a variety of references to the city’s history, architecture and culture, making it at once familiar and completely new. He draws on a variety of influences such as graffiti and street art, as well as abstract expressionism and pop culture, creating works that are constantly evolving.
Harman Projects is pleased to present Promise Made. Promise Kept, a solo exhibition by New York City-based artist ChrisRWK. This will be the artist's first solo presentation with the gallery.
Comic books, cartoons, and ChrisRWK's experience as a graffiti artist all serve as sources of inspiration for his multi-layered, mixed-media paintings. The artist has been creating recurring cartoon-like figures for the past 20 years, which are depicted in these paintings. The titular robot serves as the focal point of this group of people. The robot, the most recognizable image in Chris' work, began life as a cube that first appeared in his work in the late 1990s and later changed into a television before becoming a robot around the turn of the century.
The majority of the present body of work consists of mixed-media paintings done with multiple layers of paint, ink, and collage that are deeply infused with meanings and symbols. These messages, both visible and invisible, contribute to the creation of works that have significant importance for the artist. The famous sentence from Citizen Kane's character Rosebud's childhood sled, "Rosebud," has been spray painted on the upper left corner of the artwork Lost Amongst Ghosts and Shadows, as seen above. This partially hidden lettering is only one of the many small touches that beckon the visitor to look closer.