Jerry Harris

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Jerry Harris, Dogon mother and child

Jerry Harris (b. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, b. November 23, 1945) is an African American abstract sculptor, collagist and writer. Harris is primarily a constructivist sculptor, working in media such as wood, stone, bronze, fiberglass, clay, metal, mixed media (found objects), and collage.

After graduating from high school in Pittsburgh, he spent a year in Portland, Oregon with his uncle, professional wrestler and referee Shag Thomas. ^[1] He attended community college in Portland and then transferred to Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, and San Francisco State University.

Harris then studied sculpture under James Lee Hansen, a leading Pacific Northwest sculptor who taught at Portland State University, Portland, Oregon until his retirement. Subsequently, Harris was accepted in the international sculptor's program at the St Martins School of Art, now Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design London, England were his teachers included Sir Anthony Caro, Phillip King and Frank Martin. He also did special studies in bronze casting at the former The Central School of Art and Design, London, under Henry Abercrombie.

Harris lived in Stockholm and Lund, Sweden for many years until the death of his wife, the Swede Britt-Marie Olofsson-Harris in 1996. He befriended many African American visual artists while living in Sweden, such as Herbert Gentry and Harvey Cropper. In 1998 Harris returned to the United States and his home town of Pittsburgh. He was elected into The Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, the nation's second oldest artists' association, where he felt welcomed by the African American sculptor Thaddeus Mosley. Harris later moved to Eugene, Oregon, and currently lives in Chico, California. ^[1]

Since 1988 Harris is a member of the The Swedish Sculptors Association. His sculptures can be found in many private national and international collections, and in the permanent Swedish National Art Collection in Stockholm (Statenskonstrad). He has exhibited throughout Sweden, Europe, and the United States in various galleries and museums. ^[2]