Catherine Howe
Reverse Glass Painting (Red), 2017
Oil paint on acid - etched glass
10" x 12", unframed dimensions
Copyright © Catherine Howe
Catherine Howe
Reverse Glass Painting (Pinky), 2017
Oil paint on acid - etched glass
12" x 10", unframed dimensions
Copyright © Catherine Howe
Catherine Howe
Reverse Glass Painting (Cocky), 2017
Oil paint on acid - etched glass
16" x 12"
Copyright © Catherine Howe
Catherine Howe
Reverse Glass Painting (Lucky), 2017
Oil paint on acid - etched glass
9" x 12"
Copyright © Catherine Howe
Catherine Howe
Reverse Glass Painting (Forget-me-not), 2017
Oil paint on acid - etched glass
9" x 12"
Copyright © Catherine Howe
Catherine Howe references the subject matter of the Dutch Baroque and harnesses the energy within. However, that energy is not limited to composition alone, but is made manifest in the variety of traditional and experimental materials and supports that she employs. These disparate elements are combined in an aggressively gestural manner that obscures the subject and objectifies the resultant work. These paintings are almost more about process than in transposing an image, as Howe engages in what she calls ‘a swooning, painterly perfection.’ She continues: ‘The unexpected behavior of the surfaces and materials help to thwart my sure hand and prevents mere “depiction”, something I truly want to avoid.’
Howe was born in upstate New York and received her MFA from SUNY Buffalo in 1983. Her work has been discussed in numerous publications including The New York Times, Artforum, Art in America, Flash Art, BOMB, Artcritical, Whitewall Magazine, il Giornale dell' Arte, and The Los Angeles Times. Her paintings have been exhibited extensively in New York, and the United States, including solo exhibitions at VonLintel Gallery, New York/LA, Lesley Heller Workspace, Casey Kaplan, and Kim Light, Los Angeles. Exhibitions abroad include Yukiko Kawase, Paris, Salama Caro Gallery, London, Johan Jonker, Amsterdam.
Howe is currently a Professor on the Graduate Painting Faculty at the New York Academy of Art, where she leads a seminar on contemporary art. She lives and works in Manhattan and a farmhouse in The Hudson Valley.