WILLIAM CAMPBELL GALLERY: New Artist Debut, Howard Sherman

Fort Worth, Texas, May 19, 2023—William Campbell Gallery (WCG) is pleased to present Howard Sherman in his solo debut exhibition opening reception on June 17, 2023, at 217 Foch Street. While Howard has been painting professionally for over 20 years and has shown in over 60 exhibitions to date, he is a new artist for William Campbell Gallery, Sherman graduated from UT Austin with his BA in Studio Art and went on to receive his M.F.A. in painting and drawing from the University of North Texas.

His solo-debut exhibition will embody 10 large-scale mixed-media paintings on canvas, wall assemblage and works on paper. The works are bold, colorful, gestural, and layered, and evoke thoughts of ultra-contemporary abstract expressionism. 

A pioneer among a new generation of contemporary painters in the Texas art world, as well as internationally, Sherman’s canvases carry traces of his background in cartooning along with a sense of humor, offset by the raw power of gestural paint strokes, medleys of geometric forms and the ephemeral quality of his assemblages, which the artist punctuates with geometric forms and ambiguous portraits. Playing with structure and materials, melding paper, canvas, paints, and spray paint in unconventional and energetic ways. Sherman’s work showcases his ability to navigate with agility between abstraction and figuration. Underscoring these unique orchestrations within his compositions, art historian Alex Bacon writes: “In his oeuvre, Sherman brings together two poles of artistic expression: the pure release of gestural mark-making and the considered compositional choices of collage.” His smaller works on paper show an intuitive use of the material in a distilled yet assertive manner.

The 2010 acclaimed Texas art history book: Texas Abstract: Modern/Contemporary by Michael Paglia and Jim Edwards, features Sherman’s painting as the frontispiece and includes several full-page color plates. The book presents Howard to be a formative contemporary painter as part of the overall narrative in Texas art history. Gallery Director Anne Kelly Lewis comments, “I have been a long-time admirer of Sherman’s work. I first encountered it years ago in the book Texas Abstract: Modern/Contemporary, which I continue to use as a reference tool frequently when examining contemporary art. His lively abstractions are enigmatic, layered, and thought-provoking. They invite the viewer into layered domains that entice the mind.” 

Sherman most recently exhibited at Galerie Kremers in Berlin, Germany, and Roaster’s Gallery in Marfa, Texas. The artist is housed in several museum permanent collections including the Art Museum of Southeast Texas, Art Museum of South Texas, and the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas. Sherman has been profiled in New American Paintings magazine, his work reviewed by critics in numerous newspapers, and periodicals, and featured in the book Texas Artists Today (Marquand Book, 2010). 

Smart New Art Publications (SNAP) Editions, New York, will release a lavishly illustrated monograph covering Sherman’s art career in the summer of 2023, featuring over one hundred color reproductions along with essays by Andrea Karnes, Chief Curator, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth; David Cohen, Publisher and Editor of artcritical; and art historian and curator Alex Bacon. The book will be available at the gallery and at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth bookstore and through SNAP Editions at  www.snapeditions.com. A book signing and book release reception will be hosted at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and William Campbell Gallery on July 21, 2023. 

The exhibition’s opening reception will take place on June 17, 2023, from 4 – 8 pm at William Campbell Gallery, 217 Foch Street, Fort Worth, TX 76107. The show will run through August 5, 2023. 

EXHIBITION: Howard Sherman | Solo Debut 

EXHIBITION OPENING RECEPTION: June 17, 2023: 4 PM – 8 PM

EXHIBITION DATES: June 17 – August 5, 2023

EXHIBITION LOCATION:

217 Foch Street, Fort Worth, TX 76107

ABOUT THE GALLERY

Founded in 1974 by Bill and Pam Campbell, William Campbell Gallery exhibits contemporary art in a variety of media, including paintings, works on paper, mixed-media constructions, photography, prints, ceramics, and sculpture. The Gallery exhibits internationally recognized artists, along with new and emerging talent, and continues to nurture an awareness and appreciation of the exciting diversity found in contemporary art as it has over the past forty-nine years. 

The Gallery announced its new ownership in December of 2020 to the Fort Worth Contemporary Art Partners (FWCAP), which includes Tim and Misty Locke, Jadz Pate, Clayton Snodgrass, and J.W. and Andrea Wilson. In March 2022, a second gallery location was opened to feature additional works. In February 2023 the Gallery announced its new Director, Anne Kelly Lewis.