Overview
How long will I continue to play the game of mastery of the false self? When will the performance end? I long for that.

American artist Lyle Ashton Harris has cultivated a diverse artistic practice ranging from photography and collage to installation and performance art. His work explores intersections of the personal and the political, examining the impact of ethnicity, gender, and desire on the contemporary social and cultural dynamic.

Biography

There is an archivist part of me that is about the historical and creating that space as a form of service to myself and others. Then there’s also the part of myself who is about luxuriating. I’ve noticed with a lot of my students now who are young and queer, that there is a return to the romantic, and I’m finding that they are troubled by the lack of intimacy that exists in social media settings. So I am interested in working against that by seeking out genuine connection and interaction, complex and rich and deep because I find that there is a way in which we, a lot of us, have turned over our sexualities. — Lyle Ashton Harris

Lyle Ashton Harris has cultivated a diverse artistic practice ranging from photography and collage to installation and performance art. His work explores intersections between the personal and the political, examining the impact of ethnicity, gender, and desire on the contemporary social and cultural dynamic.

Harris is represented in the permanent collections of The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles, the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Pérez Art Museum,...



Works
  • DSC_9037
    Lyle Ashton Harris
    Anansi, 2019
    Unique assemblage (Ghanaian cloth two-dye sublimation prints artist’s ephemera)
    158.115 x 189.865 cm
    62 1/4 x 74 3/4 in
    Framing Dimensions: 158.11 x 189.86 x 10.16 inch
  • LAH 2019 Nyame Bekyere, God is Great
    Lyle Ashton Harris
    Nyame Bekyere, 2019
    Unique assemblage (Ghanaian cloth two-dye sublimation prints artist’s ephemera)
    103.1748 x 126.365 cm
    40 9/16 x 49 3/4 in
    Framing Dimensions: 103.17 x 126.36 x 6.35 cm
  • LAH 2017 Untitled (Red Handcuffs)
    Lyle Ashton Harris
    Untitled (Red Handcuffs), 2017
    dye sublimation print on aluminum
    114.3 x 86.36 cm
    45 x 34 in
    Framing Dimensions: 129 x 100.6 x 5.3 cm
  • LAH 2014 Looking for Dad
    Lyle Ashton Harris
    Untitled (looking4dad), 2014
    Archival pigment on Kozo paper
    117 x 89 cm
    46 1/16 x 35 1/16 in
  • LAH 2014 Triptych press
    Lyle Ashton Harris
    Untitled (Triptych), 2014
    Silkscreen on Saunders Waterford watercolor paper (3 parts)
    107 x 76 cm
    42 2/16 x 29 14/16 in
  • LAH 2014 Christian Village cropped
    Lyle Ashton Harris
    Christian Village, 2014
    Digital ink jet print on watercolor
    87 x 66 cm
    34 4/16 x 25 15/16 in
  • LAH 2010 MissGhana
    Lyle Ashton Harris
    Untitled (Miss Ghana), 2010
    c-print on dibond
    105 x 84 cm
    41 5/16 x 33 1/16 in
  • LAH 2010 Untitled (Blue Cell Blue Christ)
    Lyle Ashton Harris
    Untitled (Blue Cell/Blue Christ), 2010
    c-print on dibond
    104 x 142 cm
    40 15/16 x 55 14/16 in
  • LAH 1998 Untitled(Blue)
    Lyle Ashton Harris
    Untitled (Blue), 1998
    Cibachrome mounted on dibond
    96 x 122 cm
    37 12/16 x 48 1/16 in
    Framing Dimensions: 104 x 13 cm
  • LAH 1998 Untitled(Mother)
    Lyle Ashton Harris
    Untitled (Mother), 1998
    cibachrome mounted on dibond
    122 x 96 cm
    48 1/16 x 37 12/16 in
    Framing Dimensions: 13 x 104 cm
  • LAH 1996 TheWateringHole
    Lyle Ashton Harris
    The Watering Hole, 1996
    Nine duraflex prints
    90 x 74 cm
    35 6/16 x 29 2/16 in
    framed: 93.5 x 76.5 x 4.5 cm
    overall: 93.5 x 688.5 x 4.5 cm
  • 01 - Constructs #10
    Lyle Ashton Harris
    Construct #10 (referenced as Degas), 1989
    Vintage silver gelatin print
    208.28 x 109.22 cm
    82 x 43 in
    212 x 137 x 6 cm (framed)
    Framing Dimensions: 212.09 x 137.16 x 6.03 inch
  • Coquette_1987-88
    Lyle Ashton Harris
    Coquette 1987-88
    Black and white silver gelatin print
    76.2 x 50.8 cm
    30 x 20 in
    95 x 68 cm (framed)
    Framing Dimensions: 95.25 x 68.26 cm
  • 11_arch_minstrel
    Lyle Ashton Harris
    Minstrel 1987-88
    Black and white silver gelatin print
    76.2 x 50.8 cm
    30 x 20 in
    95 x 68 cm (framed)
    Framing Dimensions: 95.25 x 68.26 cm
Video
Exhibitions
Publications
News
Art Fairs