Going where man's never been

WELL-KNOWN artist Anthony Harris will hold a solo exhibition entitled Deep Time at Art Gallery in Cuyler Street, Central, starting on Saturday.

While it is only his second solo exhibition in Port Elizabeth, Harris has held 34 solo shows across the country and overseas.

His work explores landscapes, particularly those in the Karoo and Richtersveld, and through this exhibition he explores "Deep time", a philosophical concept developed by James Hutton in the 18th century.

The art works look at the landscape as untouched by man.

They subtly question development and fracking and influence such interventions have on nature and its scenic beauty, while exploring the concept of the solace of untouched land.

Says Harris: "Since Hutton established the philosophical concept of deep time in the 1800s, modern science has established, after a long and complex history of developments, the age of the earth at around 4.54-billion years."

He says he uses the landscape as a metaphor.

Harris's work explores the complexity of the terrain in ways that challenge the viewers' boundaries and conventions of romanticising something – or may occur in the future – moving beyond preconceived and comfortable human perceptions.

"These landscapes hold within them aspects other than pure nature – the panorama is composed of elements that bear witness to change and evolution," he says.

Harris's Deep Time exhibition will be running at Art Gallery until October 21.