Kenny Harris: Passage

Kenny Harris (1974) has been a fixture in the Los Angeles art scene since arriving in Venice Beach in 2001. He has made a career out of describing his environment both at home and abroad. He has traveled around the world depicting subject matter both grand and mundane.  Drawn to quiet subjects, his muted palette and spare spaces evoke a calming energy.

In Passage he continues his exploration of light, space, and architecture through atmospheric interiors and cityscapes from his travels. Working in cities such as Paris, Amsterdam, and Edinburgh, Harris seeks out spaces that catch his eye, focusing on the light and environments of our daily experience.

This series draws inspiration from recent travels across Europe, with a significant portion emerging from a residency in Paris during the winter of 2023–24. Hosted by the bohemian concept store Merci, Harris worked in their stunning Pied-à-terre, painting alongside his wife, artist Judy Nimtz. The resulting interiors and cityscapes reflect Harris’continued interest in the poetics of place. Whether portraying the grandeur of historic rooms, city rooftops, or the quietness of everyday corners, Harris brings his attention to the textures, luminosity, and visual drama found within our environment.  He always returns our attention to the ephemeral qualities of atmosphere, the geometry of space, and the color relationships of the world around us. 

Travel is a constant pull for this artist, and he has made bodies of work focused on Central America, South America, Italy, France, Cuba, Turkey, China, as well as the US and his backyard of Venice Beach.  He borrows from both modernism and classicism to achieve a naturalistic style full of grace balanced with formalism and urgency. Classical motifs are cropped with a modern eye; rendered forms are contrasted with palette knife scrapes and impasto.