VON LINTEL GALLERY

Monday, June 6, 2011

DRIVEN TO ABSTRACTION | GROUP SHOW: CATHERINE HOWE

Catherine Howe 
Night Painting (phoenix), 2011
oil and beeswax on linen
40 x 40 in (102 x 102 cm)
  

Driven to Abstraction

 Featuring work by

Andrea Belag
Lisa Corinne Davis
Amy Ellingson
Catherine Howe
Rebecca Smith
Dannielle Tegeder
Canan Tolon
Carrie Yamaoka


June 9 – July 23, 2011
Opening reception: Thursday, June 9, 6 – 8 PM



CATHERINE HOWE

STATEMENT


Proserpina, or:  "I am Nature: semi- pure painting with spewing, sprouting buds and blooms, swirling strokes of luck, and at least several hidden birds, rabbits, squirrels, etc."

The recent abstract-leaning paintings are bound sideways to the story of "Proserpina", a vernal deity of death and renewal. She begins life an innocent maiden, is plucked from her virginal reverie, and whisked away to a winter with Hades. It is  hot and rife with temptation. Transformed, she dwells in an underworld with perpetual abundance, safe from the grasping ravages of time and custom.

As my muse, she becomes a fantasy of unburdened female pleasure.

I am a scavenger. My work looks to many historical references including Dutch flower painting, antique botanical illustrations, and 18C French still-life; all created by men who observed nature very closely. In my voyeuristic experience of looking to their art, I can get it all wrong and avoid the responsibilities of "realism".

Eventually, my initial re- imaging of these sources begins to give way to a "purer" way of making paintings where things emerge more spontaneously from my own gestures and imagined fecund forms, exploding with nascent sensuality.  I engage in epic painting sessions, working swiftly around the canvas on the floor. I employ long poles, rubber gloves, even my shoes as I "attack" the painting. My yearning for the heroic gestures of Abstract Expressionism is always mitigated by nagging doubt. Nonetheless, at some point, I stop miming.

Catherine Howe 
2011 


CATHERINE HOWE

Bio





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