Born in 1948, he studied at Exeter College of Art and graduated in 1970. He has participated in numerous exhibitions both here and abroad, occasionally showing with groups such as the Brotherhood of Ruralists. His first one man show was at Double Vision Galleries in 1984.
A preoccupation with the scale and atmosphere are the hallmarks of his work and which have led clients such as Shell, Phillips Electronics and many others to commission pieces from him. Sir Clive Sinclair has in his collection many large scale canvasses of his work.
In 1984 NASA invited him to Cape Kennedy to witness the launch of the Space Shuttle and record the event in a painting, the first British artist to thus be honoured. That work now hangs in the Kennedy Space Centre and is part of the Smithsonian Collection. Much of the work belonging to this period can be seen in the recently published book, ‘MASS, The Art of John Harris’ by Ron Tiner.
Since then, his work has broadened to cover other areas of painting and, when not engaged in his own projects, still produces for the commercial sector, in particular a series of paintings for the recently built large cruise ships of the Royal Caribbean Cruise Co.
John Harris lives and works in the West Country. He is married and has two children.