Kira Lynn Harris facts for kids

Kira Lynn Harris (1963–2024) was a talented African-American artist. She created art using many different materials and styles. Kira lived and worked in New York City for most of her life.

Early Life and Education

Kira Lynn Harris was born in 1963 in Los Angeles, California. She was a very good student in junior high and high school. She studied art at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Later, she earned her master's degree in art from the California Institute of the Arts in 1998.

Art Career and Exhibitions

Kira Lynn Harris showed her art in many places. She had her own shows and was part of group exhibitions. Her art was displayed in the United States, Italy, Canada, and South Africa.

She also worked as an artist-in-residence at several places. This means she was invited to live and create art there for a period of time. Some of these places included the Studio Museum in Harlem and the Center for Photography at Woodstock.

Her artwork was shown in famous galleries and museums. These included MoMA PS1 and the Miami Art Museum. She also participated in important group shows like "Blues for Smoke."

What Her Art Was Like

Critics, who are people who write about art, described Kira's work as "minimal." This means her art often used simple shapes and ideas. She used different art forms like installations, drawings, photography, and video.

Kira's art explored ideas about space, light, and how we experience things. She often used shiny surfaces like mirrors or silver leaf. These surfaces helped to show off the architecture of the space where her art was displayed.

Kira explained that her projects often made viewers feel a bit confused at first. She wanted to make people think differently about what they were seeing. She did this by using light and reflective surfaces. She also liked to flip things around, like making the inside seem like the outside.

Influences on Her Work

Kira Lynn Harris said that other artists inspired her. These included James Turrell and Mark Rothko. She was also influenced by the Hudson River School painters, who were known for their beautiful landscape paintings.

She mentioned that the bright light in Los Angeles, where she grew up, greatly influenced her interest in light. Kira also found ideas in science fiction stories. Movies like Metropolis and Mad Max also inspired her art.

Notable Artworks

• Interstices, 1997
• 96 Degrees in the Shade, 2001
• Void, River, Nocturne, 2001
• Falling Up, 2003
• Waterfall, 2005 (shown at MoMA PS1)
• Crescendo, 2006
• Untitled (Pyramid), 2007
• Just Beyond Reality, 2009
• The Block, 2011

Awards and Recognition

Kira Lynn Harris received several awards for her art. In 1998, she won the Lorser Feitelson Emerging Artist award. In 2003, she received a grant for video production from Harvestworks.

Personal Life

Kira Harris lived in New York City, New York. She enjoyed teaching art to both high school and college students. She was an assistant professor at John Jay College. She also taught art at the Nightingale-Bamford School. Kira Lynn Harris passed away in 2024 in New York City at the age of 61.