Harry Underwood

Harry Underwood (born 1969) is an American painter known for his use of stenciled images and literary elements atop wood panels. His pictures are painted with house paints and written upon with ordinary No. 2 pencils. His subjects are an eclectic mix of realism, surrealism, pop art and invention.[1]

Harry Underwood
Harry Underwood with his dog at his home studio in Springfield, Tennessee in 2018
Born
Miami, FL
NationalityAmerican
EducationExpelled from high school (later taught self to paint)
Known forPainting
MovementOutsider art
Websiteharryunderwood.com

Underwood has been labelled an outsider artist, a pop artist, and a folk artist. However, unlike most folk artists, his paintings are carefully planned, often taking months of ideation prior to their execution. One critic said of the detailed planning that goes into Underwood's work that "what results is more a cocktail of realism, surrealism, and pop, of Edward Hopper meets Salvador Dali meets Andy Warhol."[1]

He is popularly known by his first name "Harry", and distinctively signs his paintings with this moniker.[2]

Underwood's notable collectors include Susan Sarandon, Richard Linklater, Shania Twain, and Michelle Branch.

Biography

Harry Underwood was born in 1969 in Miami, Florida. His father was a carpenter and his mother worked in a supermarket. His family was deeply religious and he attended the Church of God Pentecostal church with them until 1982.[3] He never completed high school, having been expelled for poor attendance.[4]

As a teenager, he cleaned pools at motels and bussed tables at the Capri Italian Restaurant in Florida City, Florida. He was uprooted by Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and spent time in Austin, Texas and New Orleans, Louisiana before settling in Nashville, Tennessee where he found work in the construction industry.

In 1997, on a visit to New Orleans, Underwood was attacked, robbed, and taken by car at gunpoint to withdraw money from an ATM. His kidnappers threatened to shoot him and dump his body. During the ordeal, he thought of what he would like to do if he survived. After returning from the trip, he began writing, drawing, and painting. By the early 2000s, his focus outside his work as a flooring installer turned to painting.[3]

The Most World Famous by Underwood (2005)

Career

Underwood first started painting in the early 2000s while working as a flooring installer and house painter in Nashville. He discovered his color palette while going through half-used paint cans in the garage of a house at which he was working.

His first major solo show was titled "A Pictorial History of Wishful Thinking" and hosted by the Estel Gallery in Nashville in 2007. Since then, his work has been exhibited at leading galleries and institutions around the world and his many collectors include celebrities such as Susan Sarandon, Richard Linklater, Shania Twain, and Michelle Branch.[3]

One of his paintings was used by Erin Rae as the cover for her critically acclaimed second album, Putting on Airs.[5]

One of the distinctive features of his paintings is the text that he includes in them. Duff Lindsay, owner of the Lindsay Gallery, which has long been synonymous with American folk and outsider art, said of the text in Underwood's paintings: "This is not shtick. The more you read the text in his work, you realize that this is really from the heart. His text is so revealing about his longings and uncertainties. He once told me that the imagery is retro, but the text is really what he’s thinking and feeling that day. A lot of the text is that desire for sincerity and for things to be real and fair and honest."[6]

Response to "outsider artist" label

Though labeled an outsider artist, Underwood avoids the term. When asked about it by a University of North Carolina researcher, he answered "I don’t think of that label as having anything to do with my vision or how I approach work each day. I don’t consider myself part of a movement. I wasn’t aware of artists like Darger or Edward Hopper until I was meeting people at my shows and they began telling me I reminded them of all that. Persistence is what making art is about. The world is designed to wreck your imagination. I don’t expect I’ll be tied to folk art forever...it wouldn’t be bad if I was. A friend recently called it “Americana,” and I kind of like that."[7]

Works
  • Invade the Wild Kingdom
  • Location is Not Essential
  • Fine Weather From A Friendly Place
  • The Most World Famous
  • Landmark Preservation - Measuring 4' x 6', this is one of Underwood's largest works. It is on long-term display at the Belcourt Theatre in Nashville. The painting is a commentary on the uncertainty created when rapidly developing cities start to demolish historical buildings in order to make room for new construction.[8]
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References
  1. Parr-Moody, Karen. "Reveries of a Complicated Sign Painter". Nashville Arts Magazine. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  2. Nolan, Joe. "Harry Underwood at Estel Gallery". Nashville Scene.
  3. "About Harry Underwood". HarryUnderwood.com. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  4. "Artist Creates Temporary Nostalgia During Coronavirus". WSMV.com. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  5. Powers, Ann. "Erin Rae's Tender 'Putting On Airs' Is For The Space Between". NPR.
  6. Lindsay, Duff. "Lindsay Gallery hosts Harry Underwood's 'Manifestations of Certitude and Doubt'". Columbus Alive.
  7. Louise Smith, Emily. "A Conversation with Harry Underwood". Johns Hopkins University. University of North Carolina, Wilmington. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  8. "Landmark Preservation A New Painting and an Opinion from Nashville Artist Harry Underwood". Nashville Arts Magazine.
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