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JAMES HOWELL - Infinite Array
by Alistair Rider
Circa Press
50 Great Portland Street
London W1W 7ND
www.circa.press
ISBN 978-1-911422-21-1
All rights reserved. All artworks by James Howell © James Howell Foundation.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any other information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Individual artworks may not be reproduced in any form without prior permission in writing from the James Howell Foundation, New York, NY, USA; infringement of the artist’s copyright is punishable by law.
The Library of Congress number for this publication may be requested from the James Howell Foundation, New York, NY, USA.
Design by Binocular, New York
Printing and separations by Trifolio Srl, Verona
Typeset in Linotype Univers
Printed on Mohawk Superfine
Eggshell Ultrawhite, 150 gsm;
plates of paintings printed on
Condat Matt Périgord, 170 gsm
Printed and bound in Italy
First published in 2021 by Circa Press
© 2021 Circa Press Limited and James Howell Foundation, Inc.
JAMES HOWELL - DECODED
ESSAY by D JOY HOWELL
This catalogue accompanies the exhibition
JAMES HOWELL - DECODED
September - October 2016
Von Bartha Gallery
Kannenfeldpl 6
4056 Basel, Switzerland
www.vonbartha.com
This exhibition catalogue explores Decoded, an exhibition at Von Bartha Gallery. Centered on Series Ten—a body of monochrome paintings developed over nearly two decades—the exhibition reveals Howell’s systematic approach to gradation, light, and perception. With eleven paintings and nineteen works on paper, Decoded highlights Howell’s minimalist yet deeply meditative process, shaped by a lifelong interest in mathematics, physics, and Eastern philosophy. For Howell, grey embodied time, space, and silence: “It is mysterious,” he wrote, “and I like its softness; also its simplicity, and space.”
All rights reserved. All artworks by James Howell © James Howell Foundation.
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JAMES HOWELL - THE GREY COUNT
ESSAY BY LILLY WEI
This catalogue accompanies the exhibition
JAMES HOWELL - GREY COUNT
September - October 2008
Bartha Contemporary
7, Off Ledbury Mews N, Ledbury Rd,
London W11 2AF, United Kingdom
https://www.barthacontemporary.com/
This exhibition catalogue explores James Howell’s lifelong project Series 10, a profound investigation of gray. Since 1996, Howell has produced over 400 square-format paintings using only titanium white, ivory black, and raw umber. Each piece is a subtle study in tonal variation, meticulously calibrated by percentages of white, organized into horizontal bands, and charted like data. Though rooted in modernist traditions and minimalism, Howell’s work is deeply poetic—quiet meditations on light, perception, and time. The Gray Count is a tribute to a life devoted to seeing, slowly.
Essay Lilly Wei
Photography Tom Warren
Design Niklas von Bartha
Editing D. Joy Howell
Published by Gallery N. von Bartha
ISBN 0-9547742-1-3
All rights reserved. All artworks by James Howell © James Howell Foundation.
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JAMES HOWELL - LIGHT FALLING
ESSAY BY Joan Waltemath
This catalogue accompanies the exhibition
JAMES HOWELL - TEN PROGRESSIONS
September - October 2004
Bartha Contemporary
7, Off Ledbury Mews N, Ledbury Rd,
London W11 2AF, United Kingdom
https://www.barthacontemporary.com/
The exhibition catalogue Light Falling presents the meditative and meticulous work of James Howell, whose paintings explore the outer edges of visual perception. At first glance, his canvases appear as uniform grey monochromes. Yet, as the viewer lingers, delicate gradations begin to emerge—subtle shifts from lighter to darker tones that unfold across surfaces and through sequences. Howell invites us into a nuanced dialogue between light, pigment, and perception, where the act of seeing becomes a conscious, unfolding experience. With reference to Wittgenstein’s reflections on color, the exhibition underscores Howell’s pursuit of the barely perceptible, offering a quiet yet profound encounter with the limits—and possibilities—of visual sensitivity.
Essay Joan Waltemath
Photography Niklas von Bartha
Design Niklas von Bartha
Editing D. Joy Howell
Printed by Peter Fischli
Buysite AG, Switzerland
Published by Gallery N. von Bartha
ISBN 0-9547742-1-3
All rights reserved. All artworks by James Howell © James Howell Foundation.
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