Rachel Howard
Encyclopedia
Rachel Howard is a British
artist
.
. She attended a Quaker school from the age of sixteen, and the stories, concerns and questions raised by religion have certainly had a profound effect on her work throughout her career. Howard graduated from Goldsmiths College, London, in 1992. She was awarded the Princes Trust Award in 1992 to support her art practice and received the British Council Award in 2008. Howard is currently represented by BlainSouthern
in the UK.
.
Howard allows the paint to separate inside its can so that the pigment and varnish can be used in isolation. The pigment is applied to the edge of the canvas, then diluted and manipulated through the addition of the varnish. Gravity’s pull then draws the paint down the canvas.
Although the religious element seems obvious within these works, and the series certainly engages with issues relating to religion or morality, Howard herself has confessed that the title ‘Guilty’ in part refers to the guilty pleasure of painting.
The series ultimately offers an investigation into the aesthetics of suicide. Possible instruments of death are depicted – a pair of scissors, a ladder, as well as the symbolic, lone ‘‘Black Dog’’. Then there are the faceless figures; many hang from ropes, while the body of a woman lying across a bed recalls the psychosexual claustrophobia of Walter Sickert.
Sue Hubbard wrote of the series in The Independent
:
, Latin for ‘Way of Suffering’, is the name of a street within the Old City of Jerusalem, believed to be the path that Jesus walked, bearing the cross, towards his crucifixion
. It is also another name for the fourteen Stations of the Cross
, which depict these final hours of his life – The Passion.
While Howard’s fourteen paintings reference The Passion, the creation of the series was in fact provoked by one of the most shocking photographs to emerge from the Abu Ghraib prison
in Iraq. Detainees routinely endured torture and humiliation at the hands of American military personnel, as exposed through the media. The particular image was of a prisoner standing on a box, hooded and wired with electrodes; thus the box becomes the modern day equivalent of the Cross – a tool of humiliation and torment. Thus, the paintings offer a broader commentary on the universality of human rights abuses and people’s capability for cruelty towards each other. A publication accompanies the work with texts by art historian and curator
Joachim Pissarro and Shami Chakrabarti
.
Joachim Pissarro has described the series as “sublime”, in accordance with Immanuel Kant
's Critique of Judgement
: It is this idea of limitlessness that Howard seeks to engage with, the belief that human suffering is never-ending, hence the name of the work – Repetition is Truth.
.
She was a studio assistant for Damien Hirst
from 1992 to 1996.
In 2008 Howard designed the front cover for The Big Issue
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
.
Early life and career
Rachel Howard grew up in County DurhamCounty Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...
. She attended a Quaker school from the age of sixteen, and the stories, concerns and questions raised by religion have certainly had a profound effect on her work throughout her career. Howard graduated from Goldsmiths College, London, in 1992. She was awarded the Princes Trust Award in 1992 to support her art practice and received the British Council Award in 2008. Howard is currently represented by BlainSouthern
BlainSouthern
Blain|Southern is a contemporary art gallery established in September 2010. The gallery is located at 21 Dering Street, and 6 Hill Street, London, W1....
in the UK.
The Work
While Howard employs oil paint, since 1995 she has primarily used household paint, setting her apart from the likes of Rothko and Barnett NewmanBarnett Newman
Barnett Newman was an American artist. He is seen as one of the major figures in abstract expressionism and one of the foremost of the color field painters.-Early life:...
.
Howard allows the paint to separate inside its can so that the pigment and varnish can be used in isolation. The pigment is applied to the edge of the canvas, then diluted and manipulated through the addition of the varnish. Gravity’s pull then draws the paint down the canvas.
Sin Paintings
Howard’s ‘’Sin Paintings’’ comprise seven monumental canvases, each painted in a range of intensely saturated reds, offset by the use of bright yellow and orange. The paintings were exhibited in a solo exhibition entitled ‘‘Guilty’’, at the Bohen Foundation, New York in 2003. The paintings have a glossy, mirror-shine surface, through which a simple cruciform shape emerges. They do differ from one another; ‘‘Pride’’ is an offering of brilliant red down-strokes, with a cross discernible in its centre; the reds of ‘’Envy’’ are more individuated, with yellows breaking through here and there, and the cross far less readable; the hues of ‘’Anger’’ are in a darker, more brooding range.Although the religious element seems obvious within these works, and the series certainly engages with issues relating to religion or morality, Howard herself has confessed that the title ‘Guilty’ in part refers to the guilty pleasure of painting.
Suicide Paintings
Howard’s ‘’Suicide Paintings’’ were first shown at the Bohen Foundation in New york, 2007, and were later exhibited at Haunch of Venison, London, 2008 The series evolved after an acquaintance of Howard’s committed suicide. He was discovered, not in the imagined drama, ‘swinging from the rafters’, but kneeling in a pose almost of prayer. It was this particular detail that Howard found most disturbing, and which led her to create the series, coupled with the fact that for her, suicide is one of the last taboos. The source material for the paintings came from trawling through forensic magazines and internet sites for pictures of suicides. These were then abstracted from their contexts within Howard’s rapidly executed line drawings, forming the basis of the paintings.The series ultimately offers an investigation into the aesthetics of suicide. Possible instruments of death are depicted – a pair of scissors, a ladder, as well as the symbolic, lone ‘‘Black Dog’’. Then there are the faceless figures; many hang from ropes, while the body of a woman lying across a bed recalls the psychosexual claustrophobia of Walter Sickert.
Sue Hubbard wrote of the series in The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
:
Via Dolorosa
Between 2005-2009 Howard worked on her first commission, titled "Repetition is Truth - Via Dolorosa". Via DolorosaVia Dolorosa
The Via Dolorosa is a street, in two parts, within the Old City of Jerusalem, held to be the path that Jesus walked, carrying his cross, on the way to his crucifixion. The current route has been established since the 18th century, replacing various earlier versions...
, Latin for ‘Way of Suffering’, is the name of a street within the Old City of Jerusalem, believed to be the path that Jesus walked, bearing the cross, towards his crucifixion
Crucifixion
Crucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead...
. It is also another name for the fourteen Stations of the Cross
Stations of the Cross
Stations of the Cross refers to the depiction of the final hours of Jesus, and the devotion commemorating the Passion. The tradition as chapel devotion began with St...
, which depict these final hours of his life – The Passion.
While Howard’s fourteen paintings reference The Passion, the creation of the series was in fact provoked by one of the most shocking photographs to emerge from the Abu Ghraib prison
Abu Ghraib prison
The Baghdad Central Prison, formerly known as Abu Ghraib prison is in Abu Ghraib, an Iraqi city 32 km west of Baghdad. It was built by British contractors in the 1950s....
in Iraq. Detainees routinely endured torture and humiliation at the hands of American military personnel, as exposed through the media. The particular image was of a prisoner standing on a box, hooded and wired with electrodes; thus the box becomes the modern day equivalent of the Cross – a tool of humiliation and torment. Thus, the paintings offer a broader commentary on the universality of human rights abuses and people’s capability for cruelty towards each other. A publication accompanies the work with texts by art historian and curator
Curator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
Joachim Pissarro and Shami Chakrabarti
Shami Chakrabarti
Shami Chakrabarti CBE , has been the director of Liberty, a British pressure group, since September 2003. Chakrabarti is the Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University.-Early life:...
.
Joachim Pissarro has described the series as “sublime”, in accordance with Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher from Königsberg , researching, lecturing and writing on philosophy and anthropology at the end of the 18th Century Enlightenment....
's Critique of Judgement
Critique of Judgement
The Critique of Judgment , or in the new Cambridge translation Critique of the Power of Judgment, also known as the third critique, is a philosophical work by Immanuel Kant...
: It is this idea of limitlessness that Howard seeks to engage with, the belief that human suffering is never-ending, hence the name of the work – Repetition is Truth.
Personal Life
Howard is married to Hugh Allan; they have four children and live and work in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
She was a studio assistant for Damien Hirst
Damien Hirst
Damien Steven Hirst is an English artist, entrepreneur and art collector. He is the most prominent member of the group known as the Young British Artists , who dominated the art scene in Britain during the 1990s. He is internationally renowned, and is reportedly Britain's richest living artist,...
from 1992 to 1996.
In 2008 Howard designed the front cover for The Big Issue
The Big Issue
The Big Issue is a street newspaper published in eight countries; it is written by professional journalists and sold by homeless individuals. It was founded by John Bird and Gordon Roddick in September 1991...
.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
-
- 2011 'Folie A Deux', Blain|Southern, 21 Dering Street, London, UK.
- 2011 'Repetition is Truth', Via Dolorosa, Museo Madre, Naples, Italy.
- 2011 'Still Life / Still Here Rachel Howard New Paintings', Sala Pelaires, Palma, Mallorca, Spain.
- 2010 'Human Shrapnel - oil drawings on paper', Other Criteria, New Bond London.
- 2009 'Der Wald', Haunch of Venison, Zurich, Switzerland.
- 2008 'Rachel Howard: invited by Philippa van Loon', Museum van Loon, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
- 2008 'How to Disappear Completely - New Work by Rachel Howard', Haunch of Venison, London, UK.
- 2007 'Fiction/Fear/Fact', Bohen Foundation, New York, USA
- 2007 'Rachel Howard - New Paintings', Gagosian Gallery, Los Angeles CA, USA
- 2003 'Guilty', Bohen Foundation, New York, USA.
- 2003 'Can’t Breathe Without You', Anne Faggionato, London, UK.
- 2002 'Tightrope', Shaheen Modern and Contemporary Art, Ohio, USA.
- 2001 'Painting 2001', Anne Faggionato, London.
- 1999 'Rachel Howard: New Paintings', A22 Gallery, London, UK (curated by Honey Luard)