1965-

Lyle Ashton Harris is a multi-talented artist who works in video, photography and performance. Often the subject of his own Polaroid photographs, Harris explores aspects of his own life through the characters that he portrays. In his self-portraits, he poses as cultural icons, exquisitely veiling his own identity with makeup and costume, while revealing extremely personal feelings of danger and violence. His refined use of light and shadow lends itself well to themes of mystery and sensuality. His work blurs the line between masculinity and femininity and questions social stereotypes of race and sexuality.

Harris’ work has been exhibited at the Guggenheim Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, the Kunsthalle Basel, and the Centre d'Art Contemporain in Geneva. During 2000 and 2001, Harris was a fellow at the American Academy in Rome. He has received numerous awards for his photography and is currently represented by CRG Gallery in New York. Harris' photographs have also appeared in international magazines, including The New York Times Magazine, Newsweek and Vibe.