David Greg Harth

Extremely Short Bio/Statement:

Harth is.

Very Short Bio/Statement:

Harth is an artist.

Short Bio/Statement:

David Greg Harth, who goes by “Harth,” is a conceptual artist based in New York City working across a diverse spectrum of media: performance, video, installation, drawing, and photography.

Many of his projects are socially engaging, often requiring the participation of another person in order for the work to exist. Harth’s work interacts with the public, questioning and transgressing social norms.

He creates unexpected juxtapositions, employing tension and ambiguous social situations to provoke dialogue about culture, politics, religion, sexuality, celebrity and consumerism. Quite often humor is an ongoing theme to his work. The audience may lead themselves to a set of conclusions, given a cheeky title; and are then confronted with other meanings and interpretations—sometimes in delight, sometimes in ways that stimulate further reflection. Anguish is another ongoing theme to his work. He often puts his own body through strenuous activities and feats of endurance, exploring fragility, adversity and discomfort—physical and emotional.

A major component of Harth’s work is documentation. Since many of his projects occur over specified, extended lengths of time, the process of producing each work is as important as the final piece itself. He collects, records and documents significant amounts of related data.

David Greg Harth was born in New York and has a BFA from Parsons School of Design. He’s had a studio residency at The Elizabeth Foundation For The Arts and several international art residencies. He has exhibited in various galleries and art spaces since the mid-90s nationally and internationally. Harth enjoys having candid conversations with strangers inside photobooths. His life and work on the “The Holy Bible Project” are documented in the film The Book of Harth.

Personal Bio/Statement:

David Greg Harth, who goes by “Harth,” is an artist in New York City. Harth is a collector, a friend, an informant, donates platelets regularly, was in two comas, sometimes wishes he was lighter and sometimes wishes he was taller, cries during sappy romantic films, is an excellent liar, has rational fears of making art, could probably beat you at a game of Connect 4, has an original 1972 Vignelli NYC Subway map in his collection of NYC Subway maps that contains only one map, owns a piece of Mark Rothko’s tie that he got from the artist Barton Lidice Beneš, is an ordained minister, loves to eat chocolate chip cookies and cucumbers, worked at McDonald’s as a teenager, and is not Bono.

Longer Bio/Statement:

David Greg Harth, who goes by “Harth,” is a conceptual artist based in Brooklyn, New York. Many of his projects are socially engaging, often requiring the participation of another person in order for the work to exist.

Harth creates unexpected juxtapositions, employing tension and fabricating ambiguous social situations to provoke dialogue about culture, politics, sexuality, and consumerism. From questioning philanthropy by purchasing fast food for strangers in “Happy Meals” to confronting sexual expectations in his provocative film “What Ate That Black Man” to political activism in his stamped messages on money. His interactive projects question and contravene social norms. Such as his “The Holy Bible Project” – a 60-year-long exploration of art, religion and celebrity culture, which includes over 2,000 participants. “Harthritis” a syringe with the artist’s semen inside – a reference to Harth’s brain trauma as a teenager with viral encephalitis transgresses the perception of anything typical. Doctors told Harth’s parents he would not survive his two comas or he would recover with severe brain damage as a result of the virus. However, he did survive, and he came out unscathed.  This early experience directly affected Harth’s dedication to projects and performances requiring long lengths and perseverance. Work that is necessary to keep up with life’s momentum.

Quite often humor is an ongoing theme to his work, as is anguish. These opposing differences often find themselves with the humor in T-shirts with days of the week written on them or play-on-words works that involve people’s participation like “Threesome,” or Harth’s film “Eating Pie Hole,” or the opportunity to watch the ‘70s sitcom “All In The Family” with Harth. Alternatively, there is anguish in Harth’s ongoing “Seppuku” photograph series or the grim reality but helpful positivity of donating platelets with Harth.  

He often puts his own body through strenuous activities and feats of endurance, exploring fragility, adversity and discomfort. One can see how Harth challenges himself in performances like “Tumbling Thimbles on Trimble” and “Dependent Independent.” The use of his own body is showing a commitment and dedication that he has elsewhere in his work.

A major component of Harth’s work is documentation. Since many of his projects occur over specified, often extended periods of time, the process of producing each work is as important as the final piece itself. He collects, records and documents significant amounts of related data. “World News Tonight” consisted of a newsstand that contained 15-years-worth of collected newspapers and magazines with front-page horrible news. He collects massive amounts of supporting documentation for “The Holy Bible Project,” including ticket stubs, newspaper clippings, invitations, letters, photographs, videos, etc. A film documenting the first 20 years of “The Holy Bible Project,” including interviews with participants, is currently in the film festival circuit.

Harth also maintains a consistent drawing practice with his “Thinkways” series and “Wall Drawings.” These organic and tangible drawings are executed on paper or walls respectively. They are created with complex overlapping lines, challenging intersections, fluid curves or straight parallels. Never pre-planned and created without errors. Made of graphite or ink, these intricate compositions resemble the interweaving nature of circulatory and neurological systems, highways and roads, vegetation roots and worm pathways. Similar to his conceptual work, these drawings are process based. These drawings also push the limits of Harth’s own body. Harth is a tremendous migraine sufferer and the drawings only aide in the development of migraines and since Harth holds a writing utensil incorrectly and has arthritis, it has become a challenge to create these works.

He continues to take photo booth portraits with everyone he knows and everyone he doesn't know, continues to rubber-stamp social and political messages on currency and ate 175 burgers that other people purchased for him – as part of an art project. All of these projects often force a dialogue between people that would have never happened otherwise.

Harth was born in New York and has a BFA from Parsons School of Design. He had a studio residency at The Elizabeth Foundation For The Arts and several international art residencies including in Beirut and Palestine. He has exhibited in various galleries and art spaces since the mid-90s nationally and internationally. Such as apexart (New York), The Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science (Florida), blank projects (Cape Town). He works across a diverse spectrum of media; performance, video, installation, drawing, and photography. Harth enjoys eating apples, cucumbers, burgers, and cookies – and candid conversations with strangers inside photobooths.

Copyright:

All contents of this website: © David Greg Harth 2024 unless otherwise noted. All images, videos, and texts on this site are protected by copyright and may not be reproduced without permission.

Photographs of Harth eating burgers + french fries on the landing page by JP Stanišić.

Some project specific websites of mine:

The Holy Bible Project
Every Person I Know And Every Person I Don’t Know
Stamped Money

Info

David Greg Harth                                     
PO BOX 7786
New York NY
10001