The Lyman Allyn Art Museum presents the exhibition Stains Remain: Works by Michael Harvey, on view Aug. 29 through Nov. 1, 2020.

Harvey, an artist and writer who lives in Lyme, moved to New York in 1969, drawn by the art scene and the offer of a teaching position at The School of Visual Arts. The Lyman Allyn’s exhibition showcases recent paintings that contain personal elements – from conceptual and literary interests to contemplative values and the whimsical and humorous.

“It is, after all, who I am. The stains remain,” said Harvey, referencing the show’s title, which is also the title of the book published to coincide with this exhibition. Stains Remain: Stories of becoming an artist in the 1960s, is available in print in the Lyman Allyn’s gift shop and on Amazon Kindle. 

The exhibition will be on view in the Glassenberg Gallery on the first floor as part of the Museum’s Near :: New contemporary series. Harvey’s work has been exhibited in numerous galleries and museums, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art and the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (ICALA). He has shown in many countries and in such international exhibitions as the Pan Pacific Biennale and Documenta.

“Painting is doing. A way of being in the world. Making marks, reflecting, noticing, erasing, replacing. Doing it again,” Harvey has said. “It is yourself that is there seeping through the paint, through the gesture, through the conversation. I find joy in trying to bring the picture to life. The mutations of thought and emotion. Over time the painting evolves a history not unlike your own. It is you, like it or not, it's who you are.”

Harvey’s writing has appeared in Art in America, New Haven Magazine, Exquisite Corpse, Story and Art Monthly. His illustrations have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, and he was the art consultant to the New Oxford American Dictionary.
The virtual opening reception will be on Wednesday, Sept. 9 from 6 to 7 p.m. Please visit the calendar of events tab on lymanallyn.org for event registration and more information.