The James Howell Foundation was pleased to host a lecture by Dr. Jason Rosenfeld on the occasion of his essay for the exhibition catalogue Endless Limits: The Work of James Howell, 1962–2014.

In this talk, Rosenfeld offered a nuanced reading of James Howell’s practice, situating his work within a broader art historical lineage while emphasizing the artist’s singular and sustained engagement with abstraction. Drawing connections between Howell and the traditions of European Romantic landscape painting, Rosenfeld explored how questions of light, atmosphere, and perception underpin the artist’s mature work, particularly in Series 10.

Central to the lecture was the concept of the “aerial view,” through which Rosenfeld framed Howell’s paintings as translations of lived and perceptual experience—merging observation, memory, and calculation. As Rosenfeld noted, Howell’s work reflects a disciplined yet deeply personal inquiry into the relationships between time, space, and tonal variation, achieved through a rigorous and iterative process grounded in both intuition and system.

The program offered an opportunity to engage more deeply with the ideas presented in the Endless Limits publication and to consider Howell’s work in dialogue with both historical and contemporary practices.

© The James Howell Foundation. Videography: Spencer Reagan.