artists
Scott Harbison
SCOTT HARBISON is a self-taught Newark based artist. He grew up in northern New Jersey, At an early age, he developed a fascination with cartoons. Somewhat introverted, he daydreamed his way through his childhood school years, but consistently turned to drawing to calm his overly active mind.
Scott developed an interest in rock music in his early teens and joined an original rock band that would have him in the punk rock scene in New York’s East Village. At the age of 15, he fronted a band and performed at famous NYC haunts like Max’s Kansas City and CBGB’s. This chapter led to a decades long battle with substance abuse. Despite this, Scott managed to start a family, birth several other original rock bands and started his own plastering and painting business.
Years later, with the help of a recovery program, he achieved sobriety and has been sober to the present time. With a new lease on life, Scott delved back into his love for painting, tirelessly creating on a daily basis.
Scott’s work is immediately recognizable. His figures pop out from the canvas, sometimes defying the viewer to challenge them and other times stunning and surprising them. At times, his creatures interact in ways that are sometimes shocking and disturbing, but never boring.
Scott’s work has been exhibited at several galleries including Akwaaba Gallery in Newark, Ivy Brown Gallery in Manhattan and Barsky Gallery in Hoboken. In 2022, he completed a residency At ESKFF / Mana Contemporary.
Artist Statement
In 2018, I became a painter. An artist. I am a product of the '70s and I spent my life in the fine state of New Jersey—the most wonderful state of them all. As a result of stuff that happened, choices, substances, fate, and probably pollution, I have formed an imagination that describes an environment I understand to be worthy of depicting ... possibly a cautionary tale ... where all life forms, including otherworldly ones, merge and coexist…sometimes peacefully, sometimes not. In a sense, I am leaving behind hieroglyphics, useless to anyone unless they are interested in my version of a not-too-distant reality. I usually do the work in my house in Newark. I use paint.
