Brad Howe

Brad Howe Biography

Brad Howe’s reputation precedes him. One of America’s wittiest and most versatile makers of public art, a direct stylistic and spiritual inheritor of Alexander Calder and Joan Miró, a sculptor of broad formal range but consistently expansive spirit, Howe has delighted serious and casual audiences for several decades with series after series of artworks that seem to spring as much from Santa’s shop as from Brancusi’s. But however pervasive and persistent Howe’s exuberance, it has its serious side. From the first, Howe has always taken his calling as an artist – an abstract artist – quite soberly, seeking poetry no less than punch line in his bumptious, unpredictable formulations. And now he has stepped back to reassess, and to give vent to another voice he feels welling in him, a voice quieter, more reflective, more guarded than has ever before manifested in his work. It is still the voice of Brad Howe – you can tell that immediately in its grace, economy, and lingering hint of humor – but it is Howe’s still small voice, one that has rarely if ever found exterior expression until now.To be sure, there is still a playfulness to these new objects, and the bright colors and eccentric shapes we associate with Howe’s style have not disappeared. They have simply retreated behind a partial barrier – hence the series’ name, “Deprivato” – giving them (and us) a chance to quiet down and move into a slower tempo. In doing so, they underscore Howe’s fealty to the language – the entire vocabulary – of modernism. Indeed, one of the considerations motivating Howe to this relatively restrained position is his abiding interest in predecessors such as Brancusi and Arp, David Smith and Ellsworth Kelly, shapers of three dimensions (as well as two) whose sense of form, of physical space, was prompted by their drive to find, admire, and work with the essence of shape. The sense of play lies a little less close to the surface in their work, and Howe wants to examine what happens when his own sprightliness recedes a bit, when it becomes a supporting player in his visual theater and lets more classic formal expression come to the fore.
The portmanteau name “Deprivato” also suggests a loss or lack, a diminution of some sort of energy. In this regard, Howe may be overdoing the self-effacement; even if we accept that this new sobriety is the expression of a man embracing middle age and its trials, we don’t see a waning of his gifts or of his ability to exploit them. On the other hand, we are being “deprived” in this series of direct, full-on access to Howe’ s once-pervasive aesthetic of boisterousness. Behind the smooth, obdurate silver barriers of these new works lurk many of the same jocular presences that have populated Howe’s oeuvre from its beginning; we just no longer have direct access to them.
If you give it thought, however, these barriers are themselves rather coy, slipping and sliding around the shapes behind them so that we can glimpse these shapes, if only in part. This goes doubly for the corrugated Plexiglas boxes encasing some other, obviously hot-colored and oddly bent presences. You could say that the newly appointed guardians of Howe’s giddy creatures act like chaperones, keeping their wards in line and keeping their admirers at bay. But the silver walls and distorting encasements have their own sense of play, and are content to tease us by, in effect, lifting and lowering their veils.
This, then, is admittedly the art of a no-longer-young man. It bespeaks not the gratification of desire but its provocation. It also bespeaks not the revelation of wholes, but the contemplation of parts, of what can now be seen rather than what once stood, evident and unencumbered, before us. Brad Howe is not retreating behind so many elegant baffles; doubtless, some of his greatest, wildest, nakedest, most high-spirited monuments have yet to appear. But the veteran sculptor has now added a few new arrows to his quiver, ones that aim lower, travel less far, and hit their mark almost by surprise. The important thing, of course, is that they are hitting their mark.

INDIVIDUAL EXHIBITIONS
2016
System of Shared Risk, Galerie Uli Lang, Biberach, Germany
2015
Working Fictions, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, California
Inoxydable, Galerie SpArts, Paris, France
Cartography, CMay Gallery, Seoul, Korea
Thomas Punzmann Contemporary, Frankfurt, Germany
2014
Concoctions, The Frostig Collection, Santa Monica, California
Shadow Economy, MOAH, Lancaster, California
2013
Deprivato, Katherine Cone Gallery, Los Angeles, California
Coyote, Galerie Uli Lang, Biberach, Germany
Docile Bodies, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, California
2012
Sculpture, Galerie Janos, Paris, France
Kinetic Works, The Frostig Collection, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, California
Sculpture & Kinetic Art, Soohoh Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
Brad Howe, Galerie Uli Lang, Biberach, Germany
2011
Caldwell Snyder Gallery, St. Helena, California
Construct, Galerie Uli Lang, Biberach, Germany
2010
Einladung Zur Kunstausstellung Bei H.P. Kaysser, Stuttgart, Germany
Primavernica, Andrewshire Gallery, Los Angeles, California
Sculturen, Mobiles und Mandalas, Galerie Kaysser, Munich, Germany
Giocare con la Scultura, Art 1307, Villa di Donato, Napoli, Italy
2009
Ein Kaktus–ganz ohne Stacheln, Sudwestbank AG, Stuttgart, Germany
2008
Sculptures, College Of The Canyons, Santa Clarita, California
Alexander Mertens Fine Art, Montecito, California
2007
Skulpturen Und Objekte, Galerie Kaysser, Munich, Germany
At This Moment, Sculpturesite Gallery, San Francisco, California
Strata, Museum of Design, Art and Architecture, Culver City, California
Kunsthaus Schill, Stuttgart, Germany
Stainless Steel Sculpture, Galerie Uli Lang, Biberach, Germany
2006
Steps In Serious Exuberance, Skulpturengalerie, Zurich, Switzerland
New Work, Parchman Stremmel Gallery San Antonio, Texas
Monoliths, Galerie Holm, Ulm, Germany
Jill Thayer Gallery, Bakersfield, California
Brad Howe at Boehringer Ingelheim, Biberach, Germany
Tectonics, Galerie Uli Lang, Biberach, Germany
The Next Dimension, Hamilton-Selway Fine Art, Hollywood, California
2005
A Survey of Color, Form, and Motion, Rosenthal Fine Art, Chicago, Illinois
In Collaboration, Adamar Fine Ar, Miami, Florida
Synchrony, Galerie Uli Lang, Biberach, Germany
2002
Stahlplastiken, Galerie Uli Lang, Biberach, Germany
2001
Steel Haiku, Jernigan Wicker Fine Arts, San Francisco, California
2000
Neo Modernism, Boritzer/Gray/Hamano Gallery, Santa Monica, California
Biscotto, Jernigan Wicker Fine Arts, San Francisco, California
1999
Esculturas, Praxis Arte Internacional, Mexico City, Mexico
Aquatica: Boritzer/Gray/Hamano Gallery, Santa Monica, California
1998
Jernigan Wicker Gallery, San Francisco, California
Galerie Janos, Paris, France
Galerie Uli Lang, Biberach, Germany
Diane Nelson Gallery, Laguna Beach, California
1997
Drift, Boritzer/Gray/Hamano Gallery, Santa Monica, California
Barbara Scott Gallery, Miami, Florida
1996
Flats & Risers, Diane Nelson Gallery, Laguna Beach, California
Causes, Arario Gallery, Cheoan-Shi, South Korea
1995
Boias, Galeria Nara Roesler, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Wabi-Sabi Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
1994
Hop the Twig, Boritzer/Gray/Hamano Gallery, Santa Monica, California
1993
Dierlich Gallery, Bonn, Germany
1990
Gallery de Arte Misrachi, Mexico City, Mexico
Galerie du Cobra, Paris, France
Diane Nelson Gallery, Laguna Beach, California
Galeria Millan, Sao Paulo, Brazil
1989
B-1 Gallery, Santa Monica, California
Diane Nelson Gallery, Laguna Beach, California
Galeria G. B. Arte, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
1987
Mt. San Jacinto College, San Jacinto, California
Museu Historico e Artistico de Maranhao, San Luis, Brazil
Galeria Matias Marcier, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
1986
Galeria Matias Marcier, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2016
Recent Work, Gallery Jones, Vancouver, Canada
2015
Gerundet Umkriest, Gallery Foundation S BC – Pro Arte, Biberach, Germany
American Array, Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu, Hawaii
The Nature of Sculpture: Art in the Garden, Los Angeles County Arboretum, Arcadia, California
Farbe ist mein Motiv, Galerie Kaysser, Ruhpolding, Germany
2014
Brad Howe, Gary Komarin, Farmhouse Logic, Morrison Gallery, Kent, Connecticut
2013
Frostig Collection, MOAH, Lancaster, California
Brad Howe, Zachary Thornton, Lopez-Herrera, Thomas Punzmann Fine Arts, Frankfurt, Germany
Gary Komarin and Brad Howe, Galerie Proarta, Zurich, Switzerland
Bunt, Galerie Kaysser, Ruhpolding, Germany
Rouge, Katherine Cone Gallery, Los Angeles, California
2012
L’Art Del Regal XII & Brad Howe: Esculture Art Contemporani Nord-America, La Galeria, Barcelona, Spain
TARFEST: 10th Anniversary Art Exhibition, Curated by Holly Harrison: Curatorial Administrator, Contemporary Art, LACMA, Los Angeles, California
Mouvement Et Luminere; Exposition De 85 Sculptures, La Fondation Villa Datris, Isle Sur La Sorgue, Vaucluse, France
Frostig At large: In West Hollywood, The Frostig Collection, City of West Hollywood, California
Color Balance, Marco Casentini and Brad Howe, Melissa Morgan Fine Art, Palm Desert,California
2010
Tectonic – Ephemeral – Sensual: Sculpture and Jewelry, Architect Su Beningfield and Sculptor Brad Howe. A Collaborative Exhibit Curated by Judit Fekete SPF: a Gallery, Culver City, California
Malibu Sculpture 2010, A Summer Exhibition, Curated by Carl Scholsberg, Malibu, California
Avesta Art 2010: Verket, Avesta, Sweden
Brad Howe, Sabina Tress, Maibritt Ulvedl Bjelke, Isabel Kerkermeier; Galerie Proarta, Zurich, Switzerland
Beyond Painting, Galerie Lausberg, Toronto, Canada
2009
A Happy Medium: Nancy Sansom Reynolds, Brad Howe & Mike Stilkey; Gilman Contemporary, Ketchum, Idaho
Five, Andrea Schwartz Gallery, San Francisco, California
Internationale Kunst Schloss Ruhpolding, Ruhpolding, Germany
2008
Eingeshifft/Aussebootet Schiffsmotive in der Zeitgenossishen, Kunst Galerie der Stiftung BC-pro arte, Biberach, Germany
Fusion, Robert Atwell, Bernd Haussemann, Brad Howe, Stephanie Weber, Gilman Contemporary, Ketchum, Idaho
Sculpture In Motion, Art Choreographed by Nature, Atlanta Botanical Garden, Atlanta, Georgia
2007
Keeping It Straight, Right Angles and Hard Edges in Contemporary Southern California, Riverside Museum of Art, Riverside, California
2006
Garten, Kunst, und Gersprache, Mutschler Skulptur-Garten, Ulm, Germany
Salon Der Schonen Bilder IV, Galerie Axel Holm, Ulm, Germany
L.A. Minimalism Today, Gallery C, Hermosa Beach, California
Primary Colors, Sculpturesite Gallery, San Francisco, California
2005
Touch Me, Gallery C, Hermosa Beach, California
Cities of Light, Fluxian Gallery, Omaha, Nebraska
2004
Nine, Gallery C, Hermosa Beach, California
Out of Plane: Light on White Maze, Collaboration with Architect Judit Fekete, SPF Gallery, Los Angeles, California
2002
Pourquoi Pas, Galerie Janos, Paris, France
2000
El Paseo Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition, Palm Desert, California
1999
Pier-Walk 99, International Sculpture Exhibition, Chicago, Illinois
1998
Illusion, Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, California
1997
Grins, Humor & Whimsy in Contemporary Art; Millard Sheets Gallery, Pomona, California
1996
Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, California
1995
Eden Gallery, Rowland Heights, California
Edition FIAC/SAGA, Paris, France
Slac, Stasbourg, France
Leif Holmer Gallery, Nassio Sweden
Ekerum Konsthall, Oland, Sweden
Gallery IV, Los Angeles, California
1994
Big Little, Boritzer/Gray/Hamano, Los Angeles, California
Pusan Biennial, Pusan, South Korea
Pop Into the 90s’, Kass/Meridian Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach, California
Decouvertes, Paris, France
1993
Kass/Meridian Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
Brea Gallery, City of Brea, California
Galerie Janos, Paris, France
1992
Rubiner Gallery, West Bloomfield, Michigan
Downey Museum of Art, Downey, California
1991
B-1 Gallery, Santa Monica, California
Galerie du Rivo, Freiburg, Germany
1990
Galeria de ArteMisrachi, Mexico City, Mexico
Ministry of Industry & Trade, Mexico City, Mexico
American Pop Culture Today, Laforet Museum, Tokyo, Japan
1988
Diane Nelson Gallery, Laguna Beach, California
B-1 Gallery, Santa Monica, California
1987
Diane Nelson Gallery, Laguna Beach, California
Galeria I.B.E.U., Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Galeria GB Arte, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
B-1 Gallery, Santa Monica, California

SELECTED PUBLIC AND CORPORATE COLLECTIONS
Allergan Corporation, Irvine, California
Arario Industries, Cheon-Shi, South Korea
Bachem California Inc., Torrance, California
Baxter Healthcare Corporation, Irvine, California
Beechcraft Corporation, Van Nuys, California
Birtcher Corporation, Irvine, California
Boehringer Ingelheim, Biberach, Germany
Boehringer Ingelheim, Ridgefield, Connecticut
California Spine Center, Thousand Oaks, California
Canon Corporation, Irvine, California
Carl Bean AIDS Center, Los Angeles, California
Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles, California
Chandler Properties, Los Angeles, California
City of Hope, Duarte, California
City of Montebello, Transportation Building, Montebello, California
City of Santa Fe Springs, California
City of West Hollywood, California
Colegio Nacional de Educacion Profesional Tecnica,
Administrative Campus, Toluca, Mexico
Concord Property Corporation, San Antonio, Texas
Crocker Museum of Art, Sacramento, California
Cupertino Housing Partners, Cupertino, California
Duncan Aviation, Lincoln, Nebraska
Edificio Siglum, SARE Corporation, Mexico City, Mexico
Edison International, Rosemead, California
Edwards Lifesciences, Irvine, California
Eisenhower Medical Center, Rancho Mirage, California
Equity Office, Atlanta, Georgia
Georgia International Convention Center, Atlanta, Georgia
Gershwin Hotel, New York City, New York
Hilton Caribe, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Houlihan Lokey, Los Angeles, California
Intuit, Reno, Nevada
Katell Properties, Los Angeles, California
Kaiser Permanente, Baldwin Park, California
Kitakyushu City International Center, Kitakyushu, Japan
Kimball International, Inc., Los Angeles, California
Kreissparkasse, Biberach, Germany
Lancaster Museum of Art and History, Lancaster, California
La Fundidora, Centro Cultural, Monterrey, NL, Mexico
Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg, Stuttgart, Germany
Lockton Insurance, Los Angeles, California
Lord Baltimore Properties, Empire Towers III, Ontario, California
Los Angeles Retarded Citizen’s Foundation, Saugus, California
Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, California
Medix Mihagino, Kitakyushu, Japan
Mercure Hotel, Sao Paulo, Brazil
M.G.M. Grand Airlines, JFK Airport, New York
Ministry of Industry and Trade Building, Mexico City, Mexico
M.I.T., Cambridge, Massachusetts
Murrel Company, Newport Beach, California
Neiman Marcos, Dallas, Texas
Nobe Telecommunications Corporation, Miami, Florida
Overton Moore and Associates Inc. Los Angeles, California
Pacific Medical Buildings, San Diego, California
Pasadena Museum of California Art, Pasadena, California
Princess Cruise Line, Sun Princess, Los Angeles, California
Raleigh Durham Airport, Raleigh, North Carolina
Royal Host, International Forum Building, Tokyo, Japan
Saks Fifth Avenue, USA
Samsung Corporation, Seoul, South Korea
Sand Hill Property Company, Sunnyvale, California
SAS Software Inc. Cary, North Carolina
Secretary of Commerce, Mexico City, Mexico
Straub Autovermietung Hertz, Biberach, Germany
Sudwestbank, Stuttgart, Germany
Sysco Corporation, Houston, Texas
Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Tesoro, San Antonio, Texas
The Animation Guild, Burbank, California
The Contemporary Museum of Hawaii
The Diplomat Hotel, Hollywood, Florida
The Trenton Group, Los Angeles, California
Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas
UCLA, Medical Center, Los Angeles, California
UCLA, Anderson School of Business, Los Angeles, California
Union Bank, Carmel, California
Wheelock Inc. Singapore
Wheelock Inc. Hong Kong
Western Asset, Pasadena, California
Western Asset, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Xerox Corporation, Rochester, New York
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Gesammelt – Versammelt : Einblicke in die Kunstsammlung der Stiftung S BC – pro arte/Kreissparkasse Biberach, Germany
Mouvement et Lumiere, #2 Exposition 2012, La Villa Datris, France, 2012
Urban Landscape Furniture, Hi-Design International Publishing, Hong Kong, 2012
Artweek LA (Vol. 74), Los Angeles, CA, April 30, 2012
Montecito Messenger, Montecito, CA USA, Nov. 11 – 17, 2011
ZVW-Redaktion, Das Werthaltige am Blech, Stuttgart, Germany, Nov.6, 2010
Avanti, L’universo di Brad Howe, Rome, Italy, March 25, 2010
Casa Claudia, Editora Abril, Sao Paulo, Brazil, December 2009
Schwabische Zeitung, Germany, July 24, 2009
Luxe. interiors + design, USA, Summer 2009
Arroyo Magazine, Pasadena, CA, March 2009
Sculpture Magazine, USA, September 2008
Architectural Digest, Germany, March 2008
Applaus, Kultur Magazin, Munich, Germany, November 2007
San Antonio Express News, San Antonio, Texas, October 22, 2006
Boehringer Ingelheim Zeitung, Ingelheim, Germany, June 6, 2006
Los Angeles Times, May 25, 2006
Schwabische Zeitung, Biberach, Germany, May 23, 2006
Gallery Guide, Chicago, May 2005
South Florida Business Journal, March 18-24, 2005
Angeleno Magazine, Los Angeles, California, Sept. 2004
Wochenblatt, Germany, September 16, 2004
Architectural Digest, July 2004
Coast Magazine, Newport Beach, California, June 2004
Schwabische Zeitung, Biberach, Germany, July 2, 2002
El Nuevo Herald, Miami, Florida, September 29, 2001
Los Angeles Times, April 3, 2001
The Orange County Register, September 7, 2000
Los Angeles Times, September 8, 2000
Vice Versa, Mexico City, Mexico, April 2000
Reforma, Mexico City, Mexico, October 5, 1999
Free Expression, Vol. 4, House Design by Edward R. Niles, Images Publishing, 1998
San Francisco Examiner Magazine, September 20, 1998
New York Times, August 6, 1998
International Herald Tribune, August 11, 1998
San Diego Times Tribune, August 11, 1998
Chonan Culture Journal, Chonan, South Korea, 1996
Joongdo Focus Monthly Photo Journal, South Korea, Sept. 1996
Contemporary California Architects, Philip Jodidio, Taschen Publications, 1995
The Press-Enterprise, Riverside, California, Jan. 18,1996
Florida Design (Vol. 5 No. 3) December 1995
Folha de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Oct. 10, 1995
Jornal da Tarde, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Oct. 10, 1995
Art Pictorial (Vol. 4); Tokyo, Japan 1995
Mexico: Casas del Pacifico, Marie-Pierre Colle Corcuera, ALTI Publishing, 1994
Empowered Spaces; Architects & Designers At Home & At Work, 1993, (Carol Soucek King, Ph.D.)
El Nacional, Caracas, Venezuela, June 1993
Harper’s Bazaar, January 1993
Mittwoch, Freiburg, Germany, March 20, 1991
Kultur Joker, Freiburg, Germany, March 1991
Gallery Guide, California & Pacific NW, 1991
Dallas Morning News, January 6, 1991
BusinessWeek, December 3, 1990
Veja Magazine, Brazil, November 28, 1990
American Pop Culture Today Vol. 3, 1990, Japan
Vogue Magazine, Mexico, August 1990
California Riviera Magazine, Laguna Beach, California, July 1990
Artension Magazine, Paris, May-June 1990
Los AngelesTimes, December 29, 1989
Jornal do Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil October 3, 1989
Village View, Los Angeles, August 24, 1988
UPI, July 6, 1988
Los Angeles Times, December 20, 1987
Los Angeles Times, September 13, 1987
Orange County Magazine, California, March 1987
Vogue Magazine, Brazil, July & May 1986
Revista de Domingo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil April 1986
Fatos Magazine, Brazil, May 1985