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James Howell (American, 1935–2014). Sets 71.68–88.84; Six-Part progression 10/23/11, 2011, acrylic on canvas, 25 x 25 in. Photo by Mareike Tocha, Courtesy of the James Howell Foundation.
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James Howell (American, 1935–2014). [S1.9] Set 68.98 12/27/94 (1/5) , 1994, acrylic on 0.25 aluminum, 33 x 33 in. Photo by Mareike Tocha, Courtesy of the James Howell Foundation.
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James Howell (American, 1935–2014). Set 89.14 Ruin Drawing 04/08/99, 1999, acrylic on Lanaquarelle 300lb HP, 22 ½ x 30 in. Photo by Mareike Tocha, Courtesy of the James Howell Foundation.
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James Howell (American, 1935–2014). [S1.9] Set 95.12 (3/4), 1995, acrylic on canvas, 72 x 72 in. Photo by Mareike Tocha, Courtesy of the James Howell Foundation.
The Parrish Art Museum will present an exhibition of the work of James Howell (American, 1935–2014), an artist known for his minimalist paintings that explore the vast tonal range of the color gray. Over the course of his fifty-year career, he produced paintings, prints, and drawings that explore the subtlety and scope of the neutral shade, as well as its relationship to light and perception of space. “Gray is simply too complex,” he explained, “to assume one group of paintings can define it totally.” Though Howell’s working process relied on mathematical calculations and carefully measured formulas of pigment, he also drew inspiration from the unquantifiable and uncontrollable aspects of life: spirituality and mysticism, atmospheric conditions, and chance happenings. Howell made sense of these indefinable facets through the notion that “reality is holistic and synchronistic. Everything is interrelated—nothing is isolated.”
This will be the first exhibition of Howell’s work on Long Island, a place that deeply impacted the artist’s later career. Between 2006 and his death, Howell worked out of his studio in Montauk, where the everchanging nature of the elements—fog, water, and light—provided fresh inspiration for his decades-long fascination with the seemingly infinite array of grays. Howell was also influenced by the acclaimed local artist Fairfield Porter (American, 1907–1975), whose belief that “the right use of color can make any composition work” informed Howell’s own work. The two met in the 1960s, when Howell was just beginning to find his voice as an artist, and he was impressed by Porter’s devotion to capturing daily life in his work. Porter’s friendship, and his encouragement of the younger artist to experiment with acrylics, set Howell on his path to painting.
James Howell will be accompanied by a fully illustrated exhibition catalogue published by Hatje Cantz. The publication will provide insight into the artist’s meticulous working methods and his relationship to the East End.
Born in Kansas City, MO, Howell spent much of his early career on the west coast, where he attended the University of Washington and Stanford University. After graduating with a BA and B.Arch, he built a studio on San Juan Island, off the coast of Washington state, where the range of grays he experienced in the natural environment gradually influenced his palette. He moved to New York in 1992, where he worked up until his death in 2014. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally at venues including BARTHA Contemporary, London, UK; the Buffalo AKG Art Museum; Kunstverein Eislingen, Germany; Mies van der Rohe Haus, Berlin; Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Esteban Vicente, Segovia, Spain; the Museum of Northwest Art, La Conner, WA; Santa Monica Museum of Art; and SITE Santa Fe. In 2022, Howell was the subject of a solo exhibition at the Josef Albers Museum in Bottrop, Germany.
James Howell is co-organized by Kaitlin Halloran, Associate Curator and Publications Manager, and Scout Hutchinson, Associate Curator of Exhibitions.
Exhibition Support
The Parrish Art Museum’s programs are made possible, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and by the property taxpayers from the Southampton School District and the Tuckahoe Common School District.
