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Jim Gould Restaurant »
Address: 1 E. Main St. Champaign, IL 61820
Phone: (217) 531-1177
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As part of the Boneyard Arts Festival, Jim Gould restaurant in downtown Champaign displayed five oil paintings by Patrick Harness. A local artist and area resident for more than thirty years, Harness’ works greatly complemented the vibe of the restaurant. With a jazz quartet filling the air and slightly dimmed lighting, the gentle brightness of Harness’ paintings had a way of cutting through the subdued atmosphere.

All of the paintings feature a type of soft movement suggested by the layering technique of the artist. Of the seven works, there were two pairs that were placed together and three that stood alone. Works named “Suburbia” and “A Day in the Park,” constituting one of the pairs, were obviously composed apart but contrasted well with each other. The dense concentration of closed, cool shapes in “Suburbia” and the way the objects slowly expand and spread out nearer the edges seemed to portray the suburban expansion of Champaign and other such cities. This is a nice companion piece to the similarly busy “Day in the Park.” It offers an abstract commotion of movement that the artist says was inspired by “mothers playing with their children at the playground.”

To carry on the theme of vivacious movement, “Family Tree with Memories” is an explosion of orange and white. There is great motion in the tree, with numerous family members and shared memories saturating the limbs. All parts of the tree are still very connected to the strong root structure, conveying a sense of vitality that gains strength from its grounding. Another piece bursting with life is “The Ascension.” Harness mentions that he might re-title it as “The Birth of a Thousand Sea Horses,” likely because there’s a creature in the center that looks like it’s either ascending to the heavens or a prototype for many other such creatures.

The works shared a warmth of movement and life, with the only exception being Harness’ depiction of “Suburbia.” To anyone who resides in a suburb, the lack of vitality will come as no surprise. My only complaint with the presentation was that the colors and tones didn’t quite mesh with the cool jazz of the quartet playing. If only the band played some tunes that were a bit more orange, my experience would’ve been just as juicy as my prime rib.