Review: Howard Sherman’s “Teethmarks as Souvenirs” at 4411 Montrose

by John Davis October 4, 2024
A non-figurative abstract painting with pink and black colors collage elements.

Howard Sherman, “The virtues of graceful penmanship,” 2024, acrylic, marker, spray paint, and canvas, 70 x 60 inches

I first saw Howard Sherman’s work years ago at Rudolph Blume gallery in Montrose. I had a strong reaction to it, they seemed antagonistic to abstract painting. There was one particularly large painting about 8 ft high, covered in mostly black paint, with choppy strips of canvas and layers of paper adhered to the surface. The painting had explosive movement everywhere. There were shards of yellow and orange and barely articulated cartoon penguins peeking out from the surfaces. I was a bit put off at that moment but decided to go through the rooms and look again. I eventually found an image I connected with which led to other paintings seeming less confrontational, allowing for understanding of what he was up to. Upon revisiting the large painting for the third time it became my favorite piece in the show.  

Sherman is still making challenging work. He uses an assemblage approach of slapped-on acrylic, spray-paint, and roughly cut paper, sometimes moored to a standing canvas, at other times layers of furled paper are tacked to the wall. His pictures sway and provoke. The planes of color operate in polarities; they are open and then dense — they swing between desolate and explosive, push at you, and then release in the long tradition of figure/ground painting. His color palette skews toward high contrast, effectively using black, off-white, various grays and tans with splashy areas of hot pink, mustard yellow, and the occasional warm green. The slices of paper and canvas he incorporates are often read as 3D gestural marks, exerting forward, sometimes looping and hanging, creating additional marks via their own cast shadows. There are nods to Rauschenberg, Basquiat, and NY action painting, however, Sherman has a quirkiness and humor that is all his own. The seriousness of modern abstract painting that Sherman draws from is entangled with pieces of cartoon characters and the occasional graffito marking. As such, figuration continues to appear in his work. There are floating teeth, suggestions of a head, and eyes lurking in his work. A friend of mine once remarked that Mr. Sherman has “frenetic energy”; the man is a bit wired, and that energy is felt in this show. 

A non-figurative painting comprised of torn paper and black and yellow elements.

Howard Sherman, “House of Derelict Pleasures,” 2024, acrylic, staples and spray paint on acid-free paper, 55 x 44 inches

In contrast, the small pictures are more subdued. Each image is about 9” x 7”, contained in a frame and behind glass. These images feel more like color drawings, executed quickly in a few moves. Many read like masks as a placeholder for an unseen person. I relate some images to the cartoon heads of someone wearing an extra-long cap or hood, covering not just the head but the entire face for a gag. Or maybe these figurative abstractions are comic ghosts? Sherman won’t say but will quickly acknowledge his background in cartooning prior to becoming a full-time painter.

If you get to the gallery on Saturday, you can meet Sherman as he will be on location. He also has a new book entitled Howard Sherman documenting his work. And if you choose to purchase one at the gallery, you can get it autographed on site.

 

Teethmarks as Souvenirs is on view upstairs at 4411 Montrose through October 9th.

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