G e o f f r e y H o w e
'The muted colours with minimum line and form within cut grid formations infuse intrigue and an invitation to explore and evokes an emotional response that is both private and personal.'
Exhibitions: Paintings
26/12 Linden Hall Studio, Deal, Kent
26/09 The Cot, Biddenden, Kent
26/09 No Place Art 'Materiality 2', Handbag Factory, London
26/08 Old Waiting Room, 'Fault' Peckham, London
26/07 Sidney Nolan Trust, The Rod, Presteigne, Wales
26/07 Gallery at Home, Abergavenny
26/07 Britten Pears, Snape Maltings, Suffolk
26/07 Cupola Gallery 'Form' Sheffield
26/06 Tarpey Gallery, Donington
26/05 Gallery Holt, Norfolk
26/04 BLOC 'The First Round Proper', BLOC Projects, Sheffield
26/04 Sussex Contemporary, Brighton
26/04 Newhaven Art Project
Exhibitions: Sculpture
26/ Tring Park, Tring
26/ Stoberry Park, Wells
Artist Statement:
Hertfordshire-based artist Geoffrey Howe (b.1961) draws from the physical and emotional experiences of forests and woodlands. Using a combination of paint, fire and physical intervention his paintings are an abstract exploration of the dark, light and shadows found in these visual environments. Repeated paint layers of a reductive palette are applied to a wood substrate which are subsequently eroded by a combination of cutting, burning and brushing resulting in a surface that is to be explored having evolved through both a physical and emotional expression. Abstract concepts of how woodlands and pathways are formed, erosion, repetition and regeneration are incorporated into his practice and fire is used to disrupt both the material surface and the expression of the work. Grid formations are used for structural contrasts within the paintings, the lines are cut into the wood substrate after or between the spontaneous layers of paint have been applied directly to the boards. The works are conceived without preliminary sketches but inspired by words and phrases that Howe has recorded in notebooks, this interplay of control and chance guides the paintings toward a mutual resolution.
.. and the fragments that remain.
Erosion, regeneration, repetition and the use of fire underpin Howe’s Art Practice. On painted wood boards he combines these key work methods with cut grid and arc lines and hard wire and soft bristle brushes to fragment the surface leaving a ghosting of what was before around amorphous shapes that are formed by instinct and chance. There is always an understanding that the spaces between the fragments are as important as the fragments themselves and with the lines which appear and disappear through the worked layers being randomly cut an interplay of control and chance which is an integral part of Howe’s construction method helps guide the painting toward a mutual resolution.
His paintings are an abstract exploration of our understanding of what we remember and what we forget and the interpretation of these lost thoughts and memories by the retention of some but the loss of most. With the fragmentation of the substrate he invites the viewer to explore the disrupted and worked layers of paint and wood that he has evolved through a physical and emotional expression with the understanding that although we have layer upon layer of memories we only remember fragments we never remember the whole.
...
Howe’s sculptures are concerned with our emotional need for physical contact, a slight touch to a deep embrace. Holding someone tight can seemingly draw time to halt, a human connection to show love or to console. Using groups of three steel rods with a rust patina set in wooden beams the sculptures form delicate and subtle arc shapes. The rods are entwined and held in place by tension alone, no mechanical fixing is used to secure their positions and the elegant arc shapes can be adjusted by altering the position of the single rod that runs between each pairing. The beams that provide the strong footing for the under tension rods are burnt to enhance their natural wood grain to contrast against the distressed steel.
Biography:
Geoffrey Howe lives and works in Hertfordshire. He studied at Harrow Art School 1977/79 and Middlesex Polytechnic for a Furniture Design Degree 1980/83 after which he undertook furniture design and make projects until joining Vitsoe in 1999 as installation lead and Customer Home photographer. During his time at Vitsoe he started and developed his Art Practice from his home garden workshop eventually becoming a full time artist in 2023. He is a lead volunteer for The Woodland Trust, his love for trees and woods and how we interact with the natural world has influenced and inspired many of the build processes he uses for his paintings and he is a founding member of the HVA Abstract Group which is a discussion group formed to help abstract artists based in Hertfordshire. His work can be found in many private collections and is exhibited regularly and widely throughout the UK most recently he has shown in Small is Beautiful 43rd edition, Flowers Gallery, London; Sidney Nolan Trust, Presteigne, Tring Park, Hertfordshire; No Place Art, London; Linden Hall Studio, Deal; Gallery at Home, Abergavenny; The Cot, Tunbridge Wells, and was a Submission Judge and a mentor to a selected artist for No Place Art 'Materiality Two'.
Awards and achievements:
Award winner, No Place Art 'Materiality One'
Submission Judge and Mentor for selected artist, No Place Art 'Materiality Two'
Portfolio held by:
The Tagli, London
No Place Art, London
New Day Design, London
25/ Bath Society of Arts
25/ Tarpey Gallery
25/ Gentleman Gallery
25/ Art Now Fair
25/ Hayden Gallery
25/ Gallery at Home
25/ Tarpey Gallery
25/ No Place Art
25/ The London Group
25/ Flowers Gallery
25/ Linden Hall Studio
24/ Solo exhibition, Douglas Fir
24/ Tarpey Gallery
24/ Open Studio
24/ AKA
24/ Tarpey Gallery
24/ Green & Stone
24/ London Biennale
24/ Tarpey Gallery
24/ Heart of the tribe
24/ Fox Yard Gallery
24/ Henderson Hub