Publications / Howard Sherman

Howard Sherman

This monograph offers the first comprehensive examination of Howard Sherman's dynamic artistic practice, illuminating how his distinctive synthesis of gestural abstraction and figurative elements—informed by his early career as a syndicated cartoonist and deepened through his formal training at the University of North Texas—articulates a compelling vision of contemporary painting's capacity to negotiate between seemingly oppositional artistic strategies. Through careful analysis of fifty-five major works, accompanied by scholarly essays that position Sherman's oeuvre within both regional and international contexts, the publication traces his evolution from the Houston art scene to broader engagement with global artistic discourse.

Drawing upon extensive archival research and new scholarship, the catalogue situates Sherman's practice within a lineage of artists—from Philip Guston to Carroll Dunham to Francis Bacon to Cy Twombly—who have productively complicated the boundaries between abstraction and figuration. The lavishly illustrated volume demonstrates Sherman as a crucial figure for understanding how painting might meaningfully address the complexities of contemporary experience while maintaining productive dialogue with its historical antecedents, particularly through his strategic deployment of humor and formal invention that enables what one essayist terms "a catharsis similar to what he experiences in making it."

Published by SNAP Editions, New York, 2024

Essays by Alex Bacon and Andrea Karnes; interview by David Cohen

Designed by Michael Motley

Edited by SNAP Editions

Fully illustrated, 120 pages

© Howard Sherman

Hardcover: $65