Nathaniel Donnett/Robert Jackson Harrington

Nathaniel Donnett/Robert Jackson Harrington
February 24 - March 24, 2011

Table of Contents

Nathaniel Donnett.............................................................. 1
Images............................................................................. 2
Biography......................................................................... 6

Robert Jackson Harrington................................................. 7
Images............................................................................. 8
Biography....................................................................... 12

Nathaniel Donnett

I’m interested in the study of human behavior, its psychological and emotional impact on society and how
society affects the collective and individual consciousness. As an interdisciplinary artist I address these
social issues and the human condition with a variety of methods by communicating and questioning intrinsic
cultural conceits and notions of value, while often soliciting participation from the viewer. Traditional and
non-traditional materials allow me to reconstruct meaning of these materials and objects while shifting
through frameworks of time references and fluctuating dual meanings of communication. On one hand I
set out to create work from a bird’s eye.
perspective or a distance; but on the other hand, I set out to import a counter to the unbalanced imagery
of the African American community in particular and the greater society in general.
My practice is rooted and influenced by mainly two things: African sculpture and the African American community/traditions where
intellect and intuition is synthesized and not mutually exclusive and the practice of using whatever is available to create. These are the
spaces which I find most familiar and challenging. I draw inspiration from other sources as well, art and art history, musicians, poets,
observations, literature and general conversations with everyday people.
Currently my work addresses the coded meanings of paper bags and plastic bags by investigating the color casting and class
systems of people of African descent. Multiple-disciplinary methods such as mixed media drawings, collages, installations, video,
performances, and mock standardized tests explore blackness, ostracism, beauty, memory, and worth. I seek to bring these types of
conversations from beyond the periphery, explore and investigate them.

1

Gamin On Ya; S.P.C., 2010
books, chalkboard, milk crate,
plastic, basketball

2

Gamin On Ya; S.P.C. and detail

3

Gamin On Ya; S.P.C., detail

4

5

Biography

Nathaniel Donnett lives and works in Houston, Texas. He studied at Texas Southern University. He is a 2011 Idea
Art Fund recipient, 2010 Artadia Award recipient and 2009 Tiffany Louis Comfort grant nominee. Some of the
spaces at which he’s exhibited are the Armory Show in New York, Exit Art New York, Art Miami, Lawndale Art
Center, The National Museum in Lima, Peru, The Modern Museum of Peru, Project Row Houses, and the Texas
Southern University Museum. He has also participated in a musical performance piece titled Bhandra Fever,
choreographed by Donald Byrd and performed at the Wortham Theater in Houston, Texas. He is represented by
Colton and Farb gallery in Houston, Texas; his work is available at Jenkins Johnson gallery in New York, New York.

6

Robert Jackson Harrington

sculpture
I create installations from ordinary materials such as clamps, extension cords, lamps, locks, bungee
cords, batteries, ply-wood and lumber. I appropriate these objects and treat them as purely “art”
material in order to strip them of their cultural and contextual meaning. This re-contextualization allows
me to explore these materials simply as objects in space. I emphasize and explore the aesthetics of
these materials as a means to provide an entry point for the observer. These works are modular and
designed to adjust to the possibilities of different sites. My assemblages explore the definitions between
sculpture and installation because it must factor the given site into its implementation. For example, the
effect on an installation’s arrangement can come from the differing architectural placement of electrical
outlets (if any) from various sites, yet the work retains its sculptural identity from location to location.

drawing
These drawings should not be read as schematics of proposed future sculptures, instead they should be understood as a dialogue
between my drawing and sculptural processes. Drawing allows me to explore my sculpture practice in an idealized form. Where my
installations exist in real space and must take into account the architecture in which it is placed, my drawings can exist in a void, where
space and physics do not apply, allowing these forms to develop into any shape. Simultaneously, by employing a fastidious, highly
detailed drawing style, I wish to emphasize an intentional placement and use of objects.

7

Detail of installation, 2010, mixed media

8

Installation, 2010, mixed media

9

Installation, 2010,
mixed media

10

11

Biography

Robert Jackson Harrington creates drawings and sculptural installations from everyday materials that center on
the concept of potential. Recent exhibitions include Material & deStructure: The Creative Alternative in Art at PG
Contemporary and Potential Modulations at the Lawndale Art Center, both in Houston, TX.
In 2005, Harrington was awarded Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture from the
International Sculptural Center. He received his MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in May 2008.
Currently he directs the Museum of Pocket Art and is a member of the Center for Experimental Practice. His
forthcoming exhibition at the Co-Lab in Austin, TX, is scheduled to open late spring 2011.

12

Credits
LSC-Kingwood Media - Jason Watson
LSCK TV - Garrick Joubert, Edwin Brega, Dan Ko

Designs in Print - Pamela Clarke
Graphic Artist - T.C. Robson

Install and artwork photography - Kris Larson

LSC-Kingwood Fine Art Gallery
20000 Kingwood Drive

Kingwood, TX 77339-3801
Phone 281.312.1534
LoneStar.edu/Kingwood

Affirmative Action/EEO College