Harlan Matheiu

Tsuki-Kanna Series I, 1989
Woodcut, 14 1/2" x 12"

Tsuki-Kanna Series II, 1989
Woodcut, 14 1/2" x 12"

Tsuki-Kanna Series III, 1989
Woodcut, 14 1/2" x 12"

Harlan Mathieu was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa, in 1953.  In 1976 he received his B.A. in art from Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa.  He was awarded his M.A. in 1979 and an M.F.A. in 1981 from the University of Iowa, Iowa City.  He is also a designer for theatrical productions and has been a visiting instructor at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan.  Harlan’s sensitive studies of tools, carefully laid out on a work table, draw on the formal qualities of Japanese woodcuts.  The images become a powerful testimony of the artist’s trade and, with their reference to a calendar form, a kind of personal diary.

 

*Excerpted from Tools as Art: the Hechinger Collection, published by Harry N. Abrams Inc.

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