Born in County Durham in 1969, Rachel Howard lives and works in Gloucestershire. Howard has been described as a painter of life - her work is concerned with exploring the intricacies of what it means to be human. She is interested in the extent to which her paintings might physically and emotionally resonate with the viewer, and this is evident in the visceral appeal of the work. It refuses its own self-containment as any distinction between abstraction and figuration is dissolved; Howard sees all painting as a whole, without division, as she instinctively oscillates between both categories, utilising them in equal measure to explore the full emotive potential of her medium. For Sedition Howard has turned to photography to create something unique.
Graduated from Goldsmiths College, London, in 1991, Howard was awarded the Princes Trust Award in 1992 to support her art practice, was shortlisted for the Jerwood Drawing Prize in 2004. She received the British Council Award in 2008. Major solo exhibitions include: Rachel Howard: At Sea, Jerwood Gallery, Hastings, UK, 2015; Northern Echo, Blain|Southern, London, 2014; Folie à Deux, Blain|Southern, London, 2011; Repetition is Truth, Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Donna Regina, Naples, 2011; Still Life / Still Here, Rachel Howard, New Paintings, Sala Pelaires, Palma de Mallorca, 2011; Human Shrapnel – oil drawings on paper, Other Criteria, London, 2010; Der Wald, Haunch of Venison, Zurich, 2009; Rachel Howard: invited by Philippa van Loon, Museum van Loon, Amsterdam, 2008; How to Disappear Completely, Haunch of Venison, London, 2008; Rachel Howard – New Paintings, Gagosian Gallery, Los Angeles, 2007; Tightrope, Shaheen Modern and Contemporary Art, Ohio, 2002; and Painting 2001, Anne Faggionato, London (2001). Group exhibitions include: Sleepless, Beds in History and Contemporary Art, 21er Haus, Vienna, AT, 2015; Untitled (Unconscious), T. J. Boulting, London, 2014; Invitation to a Beheading, curated by Rachel Howard, Marianne Boesky, New York, US, 2013; Drawing Biennial, Drawing Room, London, 2013; Freedom Not Genius, curated by Elena Geuna, Pinacoteca Giovanni e Marella Agnelli, Turin, 2012; touring to Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow, 2013; Gravity and Disgrace, curated by Rachel Howard, Blain|Southern Gallery, London, 2012; Summer Exhibition 2012, Royal Academy, London, 2012. Howard’s work can be found in a variety of public and private collections, amongst others: Ackland Art Museum, North Carolina; Museum van Loon, Amsterdam; David Roberts Foundation, London; Goss-Michael Foundation, Dallas; CCA Andratx, Spain; Olbricht Collection, Berlin; and the Murderme and Hiscox collections, London.
