Holy Cross Faculty Member One of Two Americans Chosen for International Art Exhibition

WORCESTER, Mass. – Robert ParkeHarrison, an assistant professor in the visual arts department at Holy Cross, has been selected to participate in the Tokyo Biennale at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography in April.  He is one of two artists in the United States to be nominated and selected for this exhibition.

The exhibition, which takes place once every two years, has a lengthy selection process, during which curators from 10 countries are chosen.  This group then selects two photographers from each country.

ParkeHarrison was selected to have his work included in the second edition of 21st: The Journal of Contemporary Photography, which will be published in September.  He has been chosen to participate in two upcoming group exhibitions, Eleven Artists Eleven Visions at the DeCordova Museum in Concord, Mass., and Three Generations at the Spiva Art Center in Joplin, Mo.  He also will have solo exhibitions at both the Richard Levy Gallery in Albuquerque, N.M., and the Bonni Benrubi Gallery in New York, N.Y.

ParkeHarrison created much of his new work during a recent sabbatical, the one-semester leave granted to tenure track faculty at Holy Cross for research.  This time allowed him the opportunity to work on a much larger scale and investigate new processes.  "I feel encouraged to do this," he says.  "A lot of artists in educational situations feel like they are moonlighting, but my teaching is closely connected to my work because I am able to take my experiences back to my students."

A member of the Holy Cross faculty since 1995, he earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Kansas City Art Institute and his Master of Fine Arts from the University of New Mexico.  He resides in Worcester with his wife and daughter.