VISUAL ARTS + MUSEUMS

Galveston Arts Center is pleased to present Howard Sherman: Eating Your Friction, featuring brightly colored, large-scale abstract paintings by Houston-based artist Howard Sherman. The exhibition will open during the April 17th ArtWalk and remain on view through May 23, 2010. Curator Clint Willour will lead a gallery talk with the artist at 6:30 pm. A color catalogue of the artist’s work will be available for purchase.

Filled with anxious energy, Sherman’s large scale canvases are charged with vivid colors, powerful forms and fascinating texture. Dark humor has always been Sherman’s forte, and in conjunction with ubiquitous elements of contemporary culture, forms the narrative underpinnings of his work. Although it is rarely obvious which social dilemma Sherman is addressing, it is clear through the sheer dynamism of his paintings that the world we live in is not always simple or kind. Less illustrative and cartoony than in the past, Howard now paints over much of his drawing, a holdover from his days as a comic strip auteur, in a push towards total abstraction. He has found a balance between thoughtful, formal execution and instinctual painting.

“Sherman’s paintings conjure up the glory days of first- and second- generation abstract expressionism—and some of the better moments of the 1980s neoexpressionism—without wallowing in them,” writes Douglas Britt of the Houston Chronicle. “There’s nothing nostalgic or mannered about these brash, elegant canvases, which are as deeply felt as they are carefully thought out.” Sherman intertwines spontaneous and impulsive gestural marks with hard, graphic lines and spray paint, reminiscent of graffiti art of the ‘80s. Howard succeeds in taking these elements and creating something distinctly new and unique.

Eating Your Friction, the artist’s first solo museum exhibition, was shown at the Art Museum of Southeast Texas in Beaumont in fall 2008. The exhibition had been slated to travel to the Galveston Arts Center but was postponed following Hurricane Ike. The current incarnation of the exhibition will include work shown in Beaumont, as well as more recent work created by the artist.

Howard Sherman received a BA in Studio Art from The University of Texas at Austin and MFA from the University of North Texas, Denton. He has twice been a finalist for the Hunting Art Prize in Houston, as well as being included in two volumes of New American Painting. His work has most recently been on view at Artspace in Raleigh, North Carolina, and at Pan American ArtProjects in Miami.

Galveston Arts Center is currently operating “in exile” from our second temporary downtown gallery space—the site of the former Maceo’s Spice and Import Company located on the corner of Market and 25th Streets. The administrative offices are also at this location. The gallery and selections from GAC’s museum shop, ArtWorks, are open to the public Wednesday through Sunday from 11 am to 5 pm. A flyer listing all ArtWalk participants with times and locations can be downloaded at www.galvestonartscenter.org.

SUPPORT AND SPONSORSHIP
Funding for GAC’s exhibition programs is provided by The Brown Foundation, Inc., Houston Endowment, Inc., Harris and Eliza Kempner Fund, The National Endowment for the Arts, Texas Commission on the Arts, the City of Galveston through the Hotel Occupancy Tax Fund, and the generous support of the community, volunteers and an active membership. GAC’s Art for All Education Program is supported in part by the Wilton and Effie Mae Hebert Foundation, Texas Commission on the Arts, The Brown Foundation, Inc., Alice Taylor Gray Foundation, Harris and Eliza Kempner Fund, and the Jr. League of Galveston County’s Community Assistance Fund.

LOCATION AND HOURS
Galveston Arts Center is located on the corner of Strand and 22nd (Kempner) Street in historic downtown Galveston. The building is currently closed until further notice for repairs to damage from Hurricane Ike. We anticipate re-opening in 2010. For more information, call 409.763.2403 or visit www.galvestonartscenter.org.  

Galveston Arts Center in Exile 2 is located at 2501 Market Street, Galveston, TX, 77550. The mailing address for GAC remains the same: 2127 Strand, Galveston, TX 77550.

Photo Caption: Howard Sherman, Eating your friction, 2008, Acrylic and marker on canvas, 80 x 70 inches, Private Collection, Houston, Photo: Rick Wells.