The Artists: Harri Klotz
Born in New York City, Harri Klotz has worked in New York, Provincetown, and Florida. Settling in Orlando in 1946, she and husband Solomon collected jewelry from around the world along with pre-Columbian artifacts (donated to the Orlando Museum of Art upon her death at age 84). Discovering a lack of interest and support for the arts in Central Florida, Klotz formed the Creative Workshop, an artist’s cooperative, in 1962. Members were encouraged to exhibit their work and share critique and ideas. She eventually opened a commercial gallery.
Klotz is a colorist who employs layers upon layers of paint. One can look at one color area and see further and further within, but always return to the surface, as when a person looks into a pool of water that reflect the sky. Her jagged edgings enhance the dynamism of her surfaces. Free from any particular boundaries while retaining control of the elements, the emphasis is focused on the subject of the interior state with the intense feeling evoked by the abstract qualities of nature. The interplay of free shapes and the intensity of color expression float in an atmospheric continuum. Klotz employs the full prism of colors in many ranges and categories.
Klotz will also be featured in Art Legends exhibitions at the City of Orlando Terrace Gallery (October 15, 2015 through January 8, 2016) and the Orange County Regional History Center (March 5 through May 29, 2016).