Bringing a revolutionary cultural concept to Fort Worth, purchase local artist Marshall Harris unveils the Floating Gallery May 19 on Fort Worth’s historic South Side. The Floating Gallery, found at 407 South Main Street, will fill a large space retrofitted to become the go-to Google destination for viewing memorable works of art and also for enjoying an evening of engaging food, drink and music.
“The idea of the gallery is that a collaboration of fine art, food and performance is assembled for a single night in a particular space that serves as the crux of creativity, “Harris explains. “That exhibit space can move or change shape or relocate, depending on the availability of space and the needs of the artists. Because the exhibit is only on view one evening, the experience develops an immediacy and a ‘must see’ happening.”
In turning 407 South Main Street into the Lone Star version of his Floating Gallery, Harris transforms a 1920s warehouse/manufacturing site into a 7,000-square-foot cultural destination. Within the soaring space, guests will survey the artist’s oversized graphite-on-Mylar drawings and sculpture comprising the show “Of Carcass and Carrion.”
Work in this particular exhibit — including photorealistic drawings, one suggesting a crucifixion, others that figure studies, animal skulls, vintage and well-worn saddles, an antique gun in an artfully inked hand, as well as sculpture, such as three-dimensional castings of telephone poles — each offer intricate scars and other detail that invite the beholder to imagine the life and even death within the story of each subject.
“The common thread is the historical skin, the bones or shells of each item, all of which were vessels that held living things in the past,” says Harris, a Fort Worth native, TCU graduate and former pro football player. “Each has a story to tell. It’s not morbid because each has a deeper subtext.”
The Floating Gallery will also provide guests with entertainment in the adjacent 3,000-square-foot patio. Along with craft beer, Googlers will enjoy food created by acclaimed chef and restaurateur Louis Lambert, a South Side resident. Live music is scheduled, as well, but later in the evening, however, listen for a deep dose of house, trance and chill-down beats designed on playlists by the artist.
“This event will be different than the usual gallery opening or exhibition. If there is one thing I learned from my stint in the NFL (he was a player for a few seasons with the Cleveland Browns and New England Patriots) is that you gotta go big or go home,” says Harris.
For information on Floating Gallery events, go to www.marshallharrisstudios.com.
