A Viewing Room

Patrick Howlett (b. 1971) layers forms and ideas in a process that keeps both adsorption (the accumulation of substance on a surface) and absorption (the ability to be assimilated by the body or substance) continually in play. The historical idea of four humours - fluids in the body that have intrinsic qualities manifesting in the psychological character and physical health of individuals - placed the microcosm of the body into the macrocosm of the natural world. Body and mind are seen as inseparably together. What if we considered paintings as some kind of digestion, combining imagery and gesture with multiple and sometimes bloated results, undeniably tempered, if not balanced? Howlett holds a BFA from Concordia University and an MFA from the University of Victoria. He has exhibited; Museum London, London; Khyber Institute for Contemporary Art, Halifax;, Atelierhof Kreuzberg, Berlin; Joe Project, Montréal and McIntosh Gallery, Western University.