Howard Fonda

November 11, 2019

Portland artist Howard Fonda might best be descirbed as a painter-philosopher who uses his painting practice to contemplate themes of love, death, existence, and humanity. His paintings are thick with traces of his hand— all gesture and improvisation, like jazz in color. Howard, like the Romantics several centuries ago, is interested in beauty and emotional depth. He says, "I've been told more than once, I'm an odd brand of painter's painter."

Untitled, Acrylic and colored pencil on raw canvas, 2019

Untitled, Acrylic and colored pencil on raw canvas, 2019

In the piece above, Untitled (2019), bright marks of cerulean, lemon, scarlet, umber, and emerald coalesce into a three eyed wolf, not unlike images produced by Google's Deep Dream. The wild, intersecting marks are more frenetic and energetic than much of his other work. He makes his paintings in a single session, wet on wet, in a fluid, gestural style. Howard moved to Portland in 2011 and enjoys being "unencumbered by the influence of the coasts," he says. "It's easy to really let loose and dance when no one is watching."

Untitled, Oil on canvas, 2018

Untitled, Oil on canvas, 2018

In another Untitled painting Howard uses a range of marks— splotches, strokes, squiggles, and daubs— to construct a portrait of a person with two sets of rainbow lined eyes. The experience of rainbows, of color, is possible only through our eyes— these incredibly delicate evolutionary anomalies. The painting works well as an analog to the experience of color and, indeed, painting. As Fonda writes on his website, "Painting is a vehicle of contradiction adept at conveying the hubris of, and understanding of, existence."

Untitled (you can't stop the spring), Oil and colored pencil on canvas, 2018

Untitled, Oil on canvas, 2018

Untitled (the moon is always full), Oil and colored pencil on canvas, 2017

In Untitled (the moon is always full) we see a blue cloud of smoke emitting from a skull imposed on a darker blue background. Text blended into the foreground spells out "the moon is always full," which represents the cosmic shift of perspective brought by death, or the contemplation thereof. We may perceive the moon as waxing and waning but, in fact, it is always all there. Fonda's painting is all curves and organic shapes— hallmarks of human touch. It reads as sincere human contemplation of existence and non-existence.

Untitled (too small a star, too short a time, for anything to matter more than love), Oil and colored pencil on canvas, 2018

Howard has a show opening on November 16th at Grifter in New York. Check it out if you can make it! And be sure to follow him on Instagram for more! @fondahoward