LITTLE ROCK — Russellville artist Neal Harrington likes to push the boundaries, creating works that he describes as a “little edgy.”
Trained as a painter, Harrington, 42, is now primarily a printmaker. Twenty-one of his creations are on display in the Trinity Gallery for Arkansas Artists at the Historic Arkansas Museum in Little Rock. The exhibit will close Feb. 7.
“The content of my work fuses the rich tradition of Greek/Roman mythologies with an American-roots music perspective,” said Harrington, who is an associate professor of art and director of the Norman Hall Art Gallery at Arkansas Tech University in Russellville. “These visual ballads sing out in their symbolism, narrative and energetic atmospheres. My work balances a multifaceted investigation of independence and mystical narratives. These themes can be found in my Bootlegger’s Ballad series and the pulp novel/comic pinup imagery of the American Goddesses series.
“It is more interesting to me to hear how viewers interpret my works than explaining what they mean,” Harrington told visitors at this month’s Second Friday Art Night event at the Little Rock museum. “I just like to walk around and listen to what people say.
“The titles of the works are clues to their meaning, and I take great care in naming a piece so that it adds another layer to the story. The amount of detail, symbolism, composition and content all play a roll in the finished work.
“I like for my work to elicit a response. I make what I like; I make what I want to see.”
Those familiar with Harrington’s work will readily recognize some of the images in the current show, but the exhibit contains several new pieces as well.
Among the more familiar pieces are two that have earned him awards in the Delta Exhibition, held annually at the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock. Feather Signal, a woodcut with India-ink washes, earned Harrington a Delta Award and a Contemporaries honorable mention in this year’s 57th annual Delta Exhibition. His relief woodcut with India ink washes Snake Shaker’s Shack won a Delta Award in 2013. Both of these pieces measure 24 by 24 inches, which is the usual size he creates.
However, one of Harrington’s newer pieces in the exhibit is the large woodcut with India-ink washes Liberty Belle, measuring 48 by 89 inches. He created this woodcut after making a 9-by-12-inch two-color intaglio titled Lady Liberty in 2014.
Harrington did offer some insight to his inspiration for Liberty Belle, which fits into his American Goddesses series.
“I came up with the concept of Liberty Belle while brainstorming for a trade portfolio for the Southern Graphics Council International conference last year. The theme for 2015 was Bridges,” Harrington said of the conference, which was held in San Francisco.
“When I was a kid, we called that body position (a back bend) ‘the bridge.’ I wanted my concept to relate to the world on an international level since that is usually the other theme of the conference,” he said.
“It seems as though the United States is viewed by the world as only being good at one thing — entertainment (since we send most jobs overseas), … so I used the symbol of the Statue of Liberty depicted as a current hipster with tattoos (along with other symbols of America) and had her doing the ‘bridge’ on a stage,” Harrington said. … I am not usually a social commentator, but I felt this was an appropriate place.
“I am not always around to explain the prints that I make. People bring their own baggage to the works anyway and will read them how they want. I set up situations that are illustrative, but I still leave room for interpretation. It is more fun to hear about how viewers see/interpret my works than it is for me to explain them.”
Harrington creates his art in the basement of his home in Russellville. He draws his work on plywood — large pieces of plywood — then carves the image into the wood, leaving the parts he is going to ink level with the surface. He then inks the board, puts a piece of paper over it and rolls or presses it.
Since he works with such large pieces, he has had to make his own press — a 400-pound drum — by pouring several bags of QUIKRETE into a cardboard tube used for the footing; he then rolls the drum over the paper to ink it.
A native of South Dakota, Harrington holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in painting from the University of South Dakota in Vermillion and a master’s degree in printmaking from Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas. He and his wife, Tammy, moved to Russellville in 2001 when he accepted a position at Tech. Tammy Harrington is also an artist and is a professor at University of the Ozarks.
The Harringtons have two children. Their son, Jake, is 12, and their daughter, Olive, is 9.
“He’s the science and math guy,” Harrington said of their son, adding that he also like sports. “She’s the artist,” he said of their daughter. Both attend Russellville schools.
“I’ve helped coach them in just about everything,” he said with a laugh.
“Between them and their activities, teaching and making art, I don’t have much spare time,” he said. “I’m
really fortunate to be a teacher. I’m coming up on my 15th year at Tech.
“It’s a great thing,” Harrington said of his position at the university. “Tech has given me a career. Tech and the Arkansas Arts Center have helped launch me. It took me eight years to get into the Delta Exhibition at the Arkansas Arts Center, but I’ve been in it three years in a row and won two Delta awards.
“Hopefully, I’ll get in again next year. I’d better not say that; it’s the kiss of death if I like my own work.
“I’ve had a really good year. Maybe I can slow down a little and make some new art.”
Harrington does already have a couple of things on the agenda, however, for 2016.
He and his wife are teaming up with their friend Warren Criswell of Benton for a three-person show Feb. 3-25 at the Arts Center of the Ozarks in Springdale. The opening reception will be from 6-8 p.m. Feb. 11.
“That will be my first foray into Northwest Arkansas,” Neal Harrington said.
As director of the Norman Hall Art Gallery at Tech,
Harrington will host an opening reception for the 2016 Small Works on Paper exhibit at 2:30 p.m. March 9. He has had work accepted into this annual show in previous years.
Paired with Harrington’s work at the Historic Arkansas Museum are several pieces of sculpture by David Carpenter of Little Rock, who received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Central Arkansas in 2004.
The Historic Arkansas Museum is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 1-5 p.m. Sunday. The museum participates in Second Friday Art Night each month and is open until 8 on those nights.
There is no admission charge to the museum center. The museum’s historic grounds are open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 1-4 p.m. Sunday. Admission to the grounds is $2.50 for adults, $1 for children under 18, $1.50 for those 65 and older, and free for museum members.
The Historic Arkansas Museum, at 200 E. Third St. in Little Rock, is closed on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.
For more information, call (501) 324-9351 or visit historicarkansas.org.