HOWARD SCHWARTZBERG | Compass Bandage Paintings | AL’S OFFICE
October 13 - December 6, 2024
In the Bandage Paintings, the canvas is applied to paint that is sandwiched between a repurposed piece of wood, then hung on a wall. In these works the canvas becomes a protective covering. The process of applying canvas to wet paint documents the moment when paint meets canvas reversing their traditional roles, creating a textured surface of paint and textile. Refashioning the interactions between canvas and paint has been a consistent aspect of my work. The Bandage Paintings have generated multiple sub-series related to its process, including Compass Bandage Paintings, Sunken Bandage Paintings and Open Space Bandage Paintings.
The Compass Bandage Paintings are round pieces with a carved notch on the side. Made in pairs, the pieces are hung adjacent to each other with a two-inch space in between. Each piece can be rotated when installed, determining its direction and the position of the notches to vary the interaction within each pair. Each of the four pairs are made with complementary, primary and secondary colors; red/green, yellow/violet, orange/blue, and the inclusion of black/white.
Howard Schwartzberg was born in 1965 in Coney Island, Brooklyn. He received his BFA from Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY and his Master’s in Education from the University of New England, Maine. Schwartzberg began showing work in 1990. He has been in several group shows in New York, including the Drawing Center and Stux Gallery. He has had solo exhibitions at Momenta Art, Silverstein Gallery, Dorsky Gallery and most recently at 57W57Arts in New York City and Private Public Gallery in Hudson NY. In 1999 the artist created “Surface”, a large environmental earthwork in Socrates Sculpture Park, Long Island City, NY.
WAITING ROOM
HOWARD SCHWARTZBERG | Back and Forth
May 4 - June 8, 2018
In the Waiting Room, Howard Schwartzberg will present “Back and Forth”, an exhibition of works reflective of his studio practice over the last thirty years. Feeling confined by the rectangle and structure of stretched canvas, Schwartzberg began experimenting with ways in which to reverse the processes of making a painting. Using bags and containers made of canvas, he began to explore weight and volume in relationship to the fluid properties of paint, seeking to turn a painting inside out where the material essentially holds on to itself. Monochromatic color choices poured to a smooth, flat surface are what define the paintings’ form and personality. Collapse and decay are present throughout the work, as evidenced in the recurring swathes of mended, sewn and glued canvas.
Howard Schwartzberg was born in 1965 in Coney Island, Brooklyn. He received his BFA from Pratt Institute and his Masters in Education from the University of New England, Maine. Schwartzberg began showing work in 1990 and has been in several group shows in New York, including the Drawing Center and Stux Gallery. He has had solo exhibitions at Momenta Art, Silverstein Gallery, Dorsky Gallery and most recently at da Fonseca Contemporanea in Wilton Manors, Florida. In 1999 the artist created “Surface”, a large environmental earthwork in Socrates Sculpture Park, Long Island City, NY. During his tenure as a New York City high school art teacher, he has developed site-specific art programs for hundreds of children, including those living in group homes, family shelters, drug rehabilitation centers and youth detention centers. In 1999, Schwartzberg received the New York City Art Teachers Association/UFT Honorary Art Educators Award in the High School Category.