Alex Harsley’s Homage To New York

Courtesy of Alex Harsley.

Alex Harsley’s Homage To New York
By Masha Froliak

Who is Alex Harsley? You might find him inside the 4th Street Photo Gallery in front of the long lines of black-and-white prints that hang on wooden clips, like clothes on a laundry line. There you will find a beautiful portrait of Muhammad Ali, John Coltrane and Jean Michel Basquiat, as well as numerous landscapes and New York City Street scenes. All the photographs have been taken by Harsley, some as many as 50 years ago.  

The fact that the name of Alex Harsley has evaded popular recognition is perhaps surprising, but also unfortunate.   A photographer, video artist, and the gallery owner, Harsley not only created an intriguing body of work, but was also a key protagonist in many significant events in the artistic underworld of New York City. His gallery in the Bowery, which he established back in 1972, has been a crucible of photographic talent and has helped nurture the talent of a number of now well-established indigenous artists. Among the ones who had their earlier exhibitions were David Hammons, Andre Serrano, Akira Ishigaki, and Cynthia MacAdams. The gallery and artist himself have an important cultural resonance for the city.

It would be hard to decipher the artistic life force that defines Harsley. He is the agent of artistic spirit, the curator who helped discover many talents and the artist who created a large body of work. He is a curious and enigmatic character, simple yet complex, charming yet modest. Harsley is the product of the city that has nurtured his unique talent, and his work is like the man himself – paradoxical, important and yet to be discovered.

Courtesy of Alex Harsley.

Beginning in 1959, his work has grown in different directions over the years. Back then, he was engaged in both photojournalistic photography that reflected evolving social and economic conditions in New York, as well as in purely artistic and experimental photography. He worked through the rise and fall of photochemical processes and entered the digital era with a new form of expressionist-video art. His fascination with reality and concerns about what is happening in the world has always been reflected in his images, whether photographs or video works. With a precisely photojournalistic eye, Harsley would capture and document reality, various moments of a specific time and space. What is extremely compelling about the works of Alex Harsley is that with strong photojournalistic theme he maintained a sense of invention. His photographic realism is often presented through very unconventional methods: superimposition of different images together, collage, and transfer the print on different surface.  His vision indicates that he has personal relation to his images.

Since 1993, Harsley has assembled a huge library of information that includes video documents, as well as multitude of different kinds of music.  Along with a library of recorded sounds that he has been engineering himself. He has never limited himself to photography but has also developed his ideas using video and range of other media. With varying approaches, the artist assaults the day-to-day indifference of the casual street observer, challenging their ambivalence and forcing them to question their sensorial awareness.

The photographs of Alex Harsley celebrating 50 years of work, will be on view at June Kelly Gallery 18 May- 19 June. Visitors can also see his video installations the artist has worked on for the past 15 years “Dreaming in America” and “10 Years of Shock”.