Today we’d like to introduce you to Charvis Harrell.
Charvis, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I always doodled and made drawings but in 2004, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and I lost my career and direction in life and after many years of alcoholism and depression, I began to make art my focus to give myself purpose. I made art in isolation as a tool to explain things to my son and to slowly fill the void that I had inside of me.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
My art is more expressions than decor, and people found it difficult to deal with the things I wanted to express, which was an identity of Blackness that was the direct opposite of what has been marketed towards and as Black. I have had work censored and until a few years ago, I was only showing art at The Douglas Theatre, I once left some flyers for my show at a local gallery, I returned to the gallery a few days later to see all of my flyers had been placed in the trash in a neat stack just like I placed them on the counter. I felt that the things I was expressing were important enough that I continued to make art, regardless if anyone would allow me to show it.
We’d love to hear more about your art.
Through art, my purpose is to complete the missing history of the Black experience in America and to counter the negative effects of marketing on impressionable young people.
In 2018 I produced my first art show through a gallery and I presented “Monuments for Heroes Who Have None,” where I was able to present information regarding the largest concentration of Black soldiers in America in Macon GA during the Spanish America war and the fights for the freedom they had in Macon and the effects of the citizens seeing free Black men openly walking armed in a hostile environment. A piece from that show “Surviving Flint,” which was a repurposing of a racist image used to show how careless we have come to feel about the people of Flint Mi was chosen for a National Juried Competition.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Purpose over pride is the key for me, I don’t care if you know that I make the art, but it paramount that you know the stories and struggles of the people who sacrificed to make life easier. When I do my research and come across some stories, I get almost angry that these people have been hidden from the world, when a friend first mentioned Eugene Bullard to me, he seemed interesting but as I began to do research, the type of person he was the courage he exudes the way he kept facing challenges head-on he’s nothing short of mythical and he’s someone everybody should celebrate.
Contact Info:
- Phone: 4782987030
- Email: harrell7680@gmail.com
Image Credit:
Charvis Harrell
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