Howard Sherman

Three years ago, when I could afford to buy art, I met Howard Sherman at a Houston Art Walk event. In the middle of crowds wandering around Houston’s eastside galleries and show spaces, Howard’s quirky art style – part cartoon, part commentary – attracted my curiosity. I purchased one of his pieces, a largish painting titled Moment of Clarity. It’s one of my favorites.

Now comes a terrific opportunity, for me anyway, to see how an artist grows in just a few short years. Friday’s mail delivered material showing his latest work, which is now showing at 416westgallery in Denton, TX. The solo exhibition is called “Scratch That Itch.” Howard’s new work is quite different from Moment of Clarity, but connected.

The signature piece shown above is Capital Gains, a 60” x 61” piece done with oil, acrylic and marker on canvas. (The photo above comes from 416westgallery’s Web site.) This and several other Sherman pieces are also featured in this month’s issue of New American Paintings – the result of a Juried Exhibition-in-Print judged by Fereshteh Daftari of MOMA in New York City.

Howard’s touch has always grown out of his early cartooning: humor versus anger, emptiness versus mass…I’m using these words from the show catalogue, because I don’t have the vocabulary for the art world. I will quote what Daftari says in the opening of the NAP article: “…my top choices presented an element of surprise.”

That’s why I like where Howard Sherman has been and where he seems to be going as an artist. Take a look at the sites – maybe you’ll agree. Meantime, I’ll look at Capital Gains electronically and wish that the piece was actually hanging on my wall.