About

My art has benefited from an abundant imagination, which is used to portray human behavior in simple, straightforward, yet often unusual settings. It is interesting to me to compose paintings that feature a sole character and their situation, whether emotional or circumstantial.

Exaggeration and symbolism play a significant role in emphasizing these narratives. Bold color and patterns serve as a foundation for the solitary, sometimes absurd or determined subjects I invent. I am attracted to the hard-edged, precise techniques found in pop art, graphic design, and comic art which I employ to produce smoothly painted canvasses.

Elyse Harrison October 2024

Elyse Harrison has been exhibiting her art since the mid 1970’s in the Washington, DC area. Her work includes paintings, mixed media sculptures and commercially commissioned site-specific murals. She has received numerous awards and grants throughout the years and maintains an active studio and a micro gallery in downtown Bethesda, Maryland. She was the owner-operator of Gallery Neptune, a regional contemporary gallery from 2003-2010, and the owner-operator of Studio Neptune, an art education program for children from 1990-2017, also located in downtown Bethesda, Maryland. Her art has been reviewed in The Washington Post, The Gazette Newspapers, Modernism Magazine and The Baltimore City Paper.

Recent exhibitions include “Elyse Harrison, Current Work” in 2024 at Radius Gallery, Missoula, Montana, “Pools in Museums”, “ModBird” and “A Visit to The Rice Bark Tree” in 2023 at The Peripoint in Bethesda, Maryland, “All Woman” in 2021 at Maison 10 in NYC and “Communicating Vessels” in 2020 at the American University Museum in Washington, DC.

A complete CV is available upon request.

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