David Harrison’s solo exhibition pal·imp·sest references a noun describing something that features a new layer, aspect, or appearance – building on its past and allowing us to see or perceive parts of this past. We can delve into the dynamic intersections of urban decay, layered time, and compositional play through David Harrison’s vibrant series of graffiti palimpsests, which offer an abstract and lively exploration of hidden histories within the cracks and crevices of our urban environments.

 

Each piece in this exhibition emerges out of a meticulous time-based process. Over the course of many years, layers and layers of urban graffiti have been repeatedly painted over by city contractors with a plasticized paint, and over time these layers of paint deteriorate and fall away – providing Harrison with a detritus of thin sheet material that he resourcefully harvests and uses in his artwork. Using this unique material, Harrison punches out geometrical shapes and then draws upon compositional techniques that follow rhythm and repetition to present a meditation on the passage of time and the transformative power of decay and renewal. What once existed as vibrant sprays of paint on an urban surface becomes a metamorphized material – layers of paint congealed and transformed into a new artistic medium.

 

In pal·imp·sest, Harrison’s circular and geometric relics imbued with urban origin stories become transformed and translated into bold and abstract textural compositions. Join the artist in exploring these hidden layers where the remnants of graffiti-infused underpasses are transformed into vibrant works of art.