My work as a painter has always focused on the urban environment thatpeople interact with on a daily basis. Subjects such as parking lots, buildingfacades, gas stations, etc., have been constant in my work for 20 years. I makemultiple visits to every location I paint, to photograph and collect informationto create an interpretation of the scene. During the painting process, I removehumans from the landscape, and reduce human activity to a minimum- a light in awindow or tail lights from passing cars-are all that remain. My goal is tofocus on the aesthetic form of the built environment and allowing the viewer toimagine a solo exploration in a vacant landscape.

During the COVID19 pandemic, I’ve heard from many people familiar withmy work, that the world under quarantine now looks like a “Peter Harris painting”.They are witnessing the emptying of the city with vacant streets, parking lots,and buildings, and connecting this new reality to my paintings. People areseeing for the first time in their daily life, what I have imagined and paintedfor 20 years.

This feedback sparked the idea for this new digital project. You can now discover and virtually explore the original locationsfor my paintings. Allowing for the first time the opportunity to see thestarting point for my work, and compare this to the work of art I created. You are able to survey the locations in the same year that I painted them, toobserve how they’ve changed over time, and locate the paintings both geographicallyand temporally.