(NEWARK, NJ) -- Akwaaba Gallery presents “I’ve Created a Monster” by Scott Harbison from January 7th through February 4th. This is a collection of neoexpressionist paintings featuring alien beings in a universe of Harbison’s imagination. The January 7th opening will be held from 5:00pm to 9:00pm.
Harbison is a self-taught, Newark-based painter who describes himself as an outsider artist. He creates large-scale works on canvas depicting cartoonish, otherworldly beings who encounter each other with curiosity, hope, shame and suspicion.
“My notion is that all life forms from all galaxies would eventually co-exist. I’ve always had this funny idea that we would all intermingle and these other weird species would evolve,’’ says Haribson. “In a sense, I am leaving behind hieroglyphics, useless to anyone unless they are interested in my version of a not-too-distant reality.’’
His creatures evoke cartoons from the 1950s and 1960s, although the paintings don’t reference any specific style or artist. Many “monsters’’ have arrived to surveil different species after humans have become extinct; others are trying to form connections, said Harbison. He hopes viewers will create their own scenarios.
“There’s no consistent storyline,” he says.
Harbison began painting four years ago during recovery from a long-term addiction to drugs and alcohol. “This painting thing came out of left field,’’ Harbison says.
Collectors soon took an interest in his work, which is rendered on canvas with acrylic and oil stick. In 2021, Akwaaba became the first gallery to show his paintings in the group exhibition “Aura.” Since, Harbison has had a solo exhibition at the Barsky Gallery in Hoboken and shown work at the Ivy Brown Gallery in New York. He also completed an ESKFF residency at MANA Contemporary in Jersey City.
Harbison grew up in Roxbury, New Jersey and as a teen became part of New York City’s punk rock scene in the late 1970s and early 1980s. His band, Fast Car, played legendary clubs such as CBGBs and Max’s Kansas City. For many years, he supported himself and his family as a plasterer and painter.
Since beginning his career as an artist, Harbison has finished more than 250 paintings. Most, including the pieces at Akwaaba, are big.
Harbison says his do-it-yourself attitude and esthetic are left over from his punk rock days and hopes others will feel inspired to create art no matter their age, experience or level of education.
“If I want anyone to take anything from my art it’s that, not only can things come seemingly out of nowhere, but you can do this on your own. I want to bring the message to all the misfits and the people who can’t afford art school that it doesn’t matter that much. Don’t worry,’’ he says.
Harbison praised Akwaaba Gallery for creating and supporting a network of artists and collectors–a “family,’’ he says. “There’s a scene brewing there,’’ says Harbison. “It’s colorful and high energy and there’s no pretension.’’
Akwaaba Gallery is located at 509 S. Orange Avenue in Newark, New Jersey. The gallery opened on February 15, 2019 and is a hidden Newark gem located in the historic Fairmont neighborhood. The gallery features diverse and eclectic contemporary works of art in various mediums. Akwaaba's mission is to engage the community and public with exhibitions featuring emerging local, regional, national and international artists
