RICK HARLOW
Painting the Invisible World
September 18 – October 25, 2026

Painting the Invisible World is a solo exhibition of paintings by Rick Harlow. Working on the floor, Harlow begins each canvas by splattering droplets of paint from a few feet above the surface, “letting gravity take over,” then returns to hand-paint individual dots, fine-tuning the work so that its layered colors interact to create a shifting energy field. The pieces range from as small as 16 by 20 inches, up to 10 feet in width.

Harlow writes: “my paintings invite deep contemplation, in which the alchemy created in the encounter between viewer and painting produces a space that is constantly shifting and vibrating.” That sense of exchange is rooted in lived experience: since 1986, Harlow has spent much of his life among the indigenous peoples of Colombia, beginning in the Amazon with the Makuna and Yucuna, who first showed him how to build a deeper relationship with the natural world. Since 2008, he has worked closely with the Traditional Elders, or “Mamos,” of the Kogui, Arhuaco, and Wiwa peoples of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in northern Colombia, supporting the preservation of their traditional practices.

In turn, the Mamos have shared with Harlow the “occult science” of their Law of Origin, teaching him, in his words, “to study nature, to see past the form and shape of things and perceive the energy that permeates all life.” This is what the Kogui Mamos call “The Invisible World.” The paintings in this exhibition emerge from that orientation: an investigation into and a manifestation of the understanding held by indigenous cultures around the world that everything is alive and contains its own energy.

Harlow is candid about what this body of work owes to that relationship, saying “I don’t know that I could have created this work without the orientation with which I have been gifted by these peoples, for which I am in unceasing gratitude.” Painting the Invisible World brings that gratitude into visible form.

Harlow received his BFA from Massachusetts College of Art in 1973 and his MFA from the University of Cincinnati in 1979. He emerged in 1980 as one of Boston’s leading “Epic Abstractionists.” For the past 39 years, Harlow has balanced frequent trips to Colombia to work with indigenous communities with his career as an exhibiting artist. He now lives and works in Vermont.

Harlow’s work has been featured in numerous solo shows in Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Atlanta, and Paris, and in group exhibitions at museums including the DeCordova Museum and the Institute of Contemporary Art, both in the Boston area. His work has also appeared in National Audubon Magazine, Cultural Survival, and Earthwatch magazines in connection with his work with indigenous communities. 

SPECIAL EVENTS:

• Fri, October 9 at 7pm: a lecture by Rick Harlow

This exhibition is curated by Finnish artist Sampsa Pirtola and presented in collaboration with Rudolf Steiner Library (www.rudolfsteinerlibrary.org).