BIO
For Los Angeles-based sculptor Brad Howe, the practice of art making is inextricably tied to a conception of the world as a kind of language for which experience is tasked with finding the words. The function of art, as Howe conceives it, is to expand one's vocabulary such that the contours of life can become increasingly comprehensible and the meaning that lies latent in the peripheries of experience can be articulated and more carefully described.
Much like the open-ended, intuitive approach he takes in his work, Howe's path to becoming an artist was not direct but circuitous. Having studied Literature and International Relations at Stanford, Howe traveled to Brazil to attend the University of São Paulo with the intention of pursuing a career in diplomacy. Instead, he fell in with a group of architecture students whose optimism in the ability of design to address the important problems of modern life inspired Howe to start experimenting with form, color, and space. Without any formal artistic training and only a book of Calder's work as a reference, Howe began cutting pieces of wire and scrap metal, arranging them into kinetic mobiles that took after Calder but with a sense of color and shape inflected by the visual culture of Brazil in the 80s, with its penchant for high chroma, strong contrasts, and dynamic movement.
Since returning to the U.S., Howe has established a reputation for working in a variety of sculptural formats, producing painting-like wall works, free standing sculptures, and expansive public installations, in addition to the kinetics for which he first became known. Over the past 40 years, Howe's practice has evolved through a sustained negotiation of opposing forces, balancing the extremes of color and mass to create vibrantly clashing metal forms that rise in the air with a deceptive weightlessness, sometimes hovering like technicolor mirages.
Identifying as a gardener, Howe's sculptures are the result of patient observation and a dogged devotion to the insights of intuition, imagination, and memory. Using the formal language of classical modernism and its mid 20th century West Coast offshoots (e.g. Minimalism, Light & Space, Pop, and Post-Pop), Howe has developed a means for translating the ever fleeting experience of contemporary life into striking objects that straddle the line between physical presence and graphic exuberance.
CV
Born:
Riverside, California, 1959
Residence:
Los Angeles, California
Education:
Stanford University, Stanford, California
University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
INDIVIDUAL EXHIBITIONS
2025
Brad Howe, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, Montecito, California
2024
Brad Howe, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, California
2022
Recent Sculptures, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, Montecito, California
2019
Wishful Thinking, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, St. Helena, California
2017
Second Nature, Galerie Uli Lang, Biberach, Germany
2016
Jardin De Reverie, Pacific Design Center, West Hollywood, California Brad
Howe Invitational, Gallery Jeon, Daegu, South Korea
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
Shadow Economy, Museum of Art and History, Lancaster, Califorina
Concoctions, Frostig Collection, Santa Monica, California
2013
Coyote, Galerie Uli Lang, Biberach, Germany
Docile Bodies, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, California
Deprivato, Katherine Cone Gallery, Los Angeles, California
2012
Sculpture, Galerie Janos, Paris, France
Kinetic Works, The Frostig Collection, Santa Monica, California
Sculpture & Kinetic Art, Soohoh Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
Galerie Uli Lang, Bibierach, 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
Sculpture, 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
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 Haikiu, 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
Museum Historico e Artistico de Maranhao, San Luis, Brazil
Galeria Matias Marcier, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1986
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024
Kunst Trifft Koch - Kunst; Galerie Uli Lang, Baiersbronn, Germany
2022
reFORMED, James Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
Axiom. Alex Couewnberg, Brad Howe, SCAPE Gallery, Corona Del Mar, California
Salon Redux, David Klein Gallery, Detroit, Michigan
Fun Gal Gro Up Sho, Gallery SADE, Los Angeles, California
2020
Trooping the Colours, Brad Howe, Michelle Benoit, Galerie Uli Lang, Biberach, Germany
2019
XIII Bienal de la Habana, Havana, Cuba
Brad Howe, Michelle Benoit, Eduardo Vega de Seoane, Thomas Punzmann Contemporary, Frankfurt, Germany
Fractured Beauty, Alisa Henriquez, Andy Krieger, Brad Howe, David Klein Gallery, Detroit, Michigan
2018
The Pearly Gates Collection, Yucca Valley Visual and Performing Arts Center, Yucca Valley, California
Bauhaus Club, Contemporary Cluster, Rome, Italy
Disturbances, Art 1307, Naples, Italy
Thomas Punzmann Contemporary, Frankfurt, Germany
2017
Off the Wall, GR Gallery, New York, New York
Ojai Invitational 2017: California Space and Light, Porch Gallery, Ojai, California Trooping
The Colours, Thomas Punzmann Contemporary, Frankfurt, Germany
Angles of Perspective, Deshan Art Space, Beijing, China
On the Road: American Abstraction, David Klein Gallery, Detroit, Michigan
2016
20, Zetaeffe Galleria, Florence, Italy
Properties of Light, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, California
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
Bogen Schiessen, Museum Biberach, Biberach, Germany
Blur the Lines, Brad Howe and Murakami Takashi, Asian Art Works Busan, Busan, Korea
Farmhouse Logic; Brad Howe and Gary Komarin, Morrison Gallery, Kent, Connecticut
2013
Frostig Collection, Museum of Art and History, Lancaster, California
Brad Howe, Zachary Thornton, Lopez-Herrera, Thomas Punzman 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 Lumiere: Exposition de 85 Sculptures, La Fondation Villa Datris, Isle Sur La Sorgue, Vaucluse,
France
Frostig at Large: In West Hollywood, 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 Staight, Right Angles and Hard Edges in Contemporary
Southern California, Riverside Museum of Art, Riverside, California
The El Paseo Invitational, Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition, Palm Desert, 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, CA
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, Strasbourg, France
Leif Holmer Gallery, Nassjo, Sweden
Ekerum Konsthall, Oland, Sweden
Gallery IV, Los Angeles, California
1994 Big Littles, 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 Arte Misrachi, 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 & 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
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
Heising-Simons Foundation, San Francisco, California
Hilton Caribe, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu, Hawaii
Houlihan Lokey, Los Angeles, California
Intuit, Reno, Nevada
Jesuit Dallas Museum, Dallas, Texas
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, Ontario, California
LARC 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 Marcus, 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
Department of Commerce, Mexico City, Mexico
Straub Autovermietung Hertz, Biberach, Germany
Sudwestbank, Stuttgart, Germany
Stanford University, Palo Alto, California
Sysco Corporation, Houston, Texas
Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The Animation Guild, Burbank, California
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
A Dance of Atoms, Brad Howe, Skira, Milan, 2022,
California Homes, September/October 2020
Art Ltd. Magazine, Nov/Dec 2016, Woodland Hills, California, November 2016
University Hospitals, Artwork from the Collection of University Hospitals, Cleveland OH, 2016
Fabrik Magazine, Los Angeles, California, September 2016
Schwabische Zeitung, Passende Kombination fur Schemmerhofen, Germany, June 2014
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, November 11 – 17, 2011
ZVW-Redaktion, Das Werthaltige am Blech, Stuttgart, Germany, November 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, September 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
Los Angeles Times, September 8, 2000
The Orange County Register, September 7, 2000
Vice Versa, Mexico City, Mexico, April 2000
Serious Exuberance, Sculpture by Brad Howe, Noriega Editors, Mexico City, 1999
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
International Herald Tribune, August 11, 1998
San Diego Times Tribune, August 11, 1998
New York Times, August 6, 1998
Chonan Culture Journal, Chonan, South Korea, 1996
Joongdo Focus Monthly Photo Journal, South Korea, September 1996
The Press-Enterprise, Riverside, California, January 18, 1996
Contemporary California Architects, Philip Jodidio, Taschen Publications, 1995
Florida Design (Vol. 5 No. 3), December 1995
Folha de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil, October 10, 1995
Jornal da Tarde, Sao Paulo, Brazil, October 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
El Nacional, Caracas, Venezuela, June 1993
Harper's Bazaar, January 1993
Mittwoch, Freiburg, Germany, March 20, 1991
Kultur Joker, Freiburg, Germany, March 1991
Dallas Morning News, January 6, 1991
Gallery Guide, California & Pacific NW, 1991
American Pop Culture Today Vol. 3, Japan, 1990
BusinessWeek, December 3, 1990
Veja Magazine, Brazil, November 28, 1990
Vogue Magazine, Mexico, August 1990
California Riviera Magazine, Laguna Beach, California, July 1990
Artension Magazine, Paris, May-June 1990
Los Angeles Times, 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 1986
Vogue Magazine, Brazil, May 1986
Revista de Domingo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, April 1986
Fatos Magazine, Brazil, May 1985