Bio
JW Harrington is a painter, social-science professor, and trained baritone, living, painting, and singing in Tacoma, Washington. Using acrylic and oil paints on canvases or panels, he paints abstract works: some using strict, “rational” patterns of complementary colors; some eschewing color for monochrome shades; and some using free, intuitive composition. He also paints portraits and animated landscapes, motivated by the vibrant beauty of the Puget Sound region.
Harrington was born in South Carolina, educated at Harvard University and the University of Washington, and has worked on east and west coasts of the U.S. He is Professor Emeritus of Urban Studies at the University of Washington Tacoma, after a 37-year career of teaching, research and administration there, the University of Washington Seattle, George Mason University, and the University at Buffalo (SUNY).
He’s studied painting and drawing with Sandy Bricel Miller in Seattle. His work has been shown in Seattle at Gallery 110, the Red Ochre Studio, ARTS at King Street Station , UW Tower, and the 2017 and 2021 Artists Trust fundraising auctions; in Tacoma at the Tahoma Center Gallery in Tacoma; and in Bremerton at Collective Visions Gallery. His works hang in corporate collections in Seattle, and the City of Tacoma has purchased two of his works through a juried competition.
Artist Statement
As a painter, my goal is to use color, composition, line, and/or implicit allusion to get the casual viewer to engage with the work and their interpretations. Each of my series works toward that goal through a different set of visual elements. In figurative paintings, I bring playful (or at times wry) animation to landscapes, waterscapes, portraits, and even inanimate objects. One of my goals is to bring a little more color to people’s collections by focusing my portraiture on African Americans.
“The Impossibility of Knowing” series refers to the strength of memory and imagination, compared to what is “real” or “observed.” In these paintings, a solid shape, figure, or silhouette interacts with its mirrored outline: something that seems substantive is augmented with its mirror, shadow, or luminescence. The interplay creates dynamism, as each shape is pulled in its opposite direction.
