Rob Howe is an artist based in the Illawarra/Dharawal region on the New South Wales south coast. His work honours the qualities of a scene, exploring that which may be unnoticed. His works are evocative rather than realistic, energised by a complex play of light and colour, the tilt of a tree or telegraph pole, the smudge of a horizontal shadow. People inhabit these spaces, tenderly portrayed in brush, the edges of their form enveloped by the light‑filled settings. His portraits communicate an impression where the space between the viewer and the subject is set at a neighbourly distance. The essence is captured, the superfluous edited out –what painter Fairfield Porter might describe as "a respect for things as they are". Howe approaches realism with an abstract brush. His exterior portraits are awash in Australian sunlight, almost squinting to bring you into focus. We have our space and they have theirs. - Tony Mighell, 2024
CV
ROB HOWE
b. 1970 Sydney, Australia
EDUCATION
2013 Master of Creative Arts (Research), UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG, Wollongong, NSW
2000 Bachelor of Creative Arts, UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG, Wollongong, NSW
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024. Just Like Stars Shine Over the Wave, THE EGG AND DART, Wollongong, NSW
2023 You’ve Got To Have a Flower On Your Mind. THE EGG AND DART, Wollongong, NSW
2022 This Must Be The Place, THE EGG AND DART, Thirroul, NSW
2019 Of Course I Still Love You, HUGO MICHELL GALLERY, Adelaide, SA
One More Love Song, THE EGG AND DART, Thirroul, NSW
2018 Loveland, THE EGG AND DART, Thirroul, NSW
New Paintings, SOPHIE GANNON GALLERY, Melbourne, VIC
2016 This Romance will be Different for Me, FOLONOMO GALLERY, Sydney, NSW
2013 Moments of Truth, FCA GALLERY, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW
2006 Players, KNOT GALLERY, Sydney, NSW
2004 Scrawls, Traces, and Hints of Eternity, KNOT GALLERY, Sydney, NSW
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 Salon des Refusés, S.H. ERVIN GALLERY, Sydney, NSW
2024. Where’d the Summer Go?, THE EGG AND DART, Wollongong, NSW
2023 Salon des Refusés, S.H. ERVIN GALLERY, Sydney, NSW
2023 Inside, THE EGG AND DART, Wollongong, NSW
2022 Antarctic Futures, UOW GALLERY, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW
2021 Salon des Refusés, S.H. ERVIN GALLERY, Sydney, NSW
2020 Your Funny Moods, THE EGG AND DART, Thirroul, NSW
Suburbia, SHOALHAVEN REGIONAL GALLERY, Nowra, NSW
New Collectors, HUGO MICHELL GALLERY, Adelaide, SA
Plan B, HUGO MICHELL GALLERY, Adelaide, SA
2019 An Exhibition, THE EGG AND DART, Thirroul, NSW
2018 The Castle, THE EGG AND DART, Thirroul, NSW
2017 The Egg and Dart Family and Friends, THE EGG AND DART, Thirroul, NSW
2016 Outback and Out Back, THE EGG AND DART, Thirroul, NSW
2014 Interiors, THE EGG AND DART, Thirroul, NSW
AWARDS, RESIDENCIES, PUBLICATIONS AND CURATORIAL
2024. Gang Gang Residency Recipient, Cuttagee, NSW
2018 The Castle, ARTIST PROFILE, May 9, 2018, https://artistprofile.com.au/the-castle/
2017 Artist in Residence Award, AUSTRALIAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE IN ATHENS, (AAIA)/UOW, Athens, Greece
Waverley Art Prize (highly commended), WAVERLEY COUNCIL, Sydney, NSW
2013 Yang Shen-An Memorial Art Prize (winner), UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG, Wollongong, NSW
2009 Curator, The Non-Grand, WOLLONGONG CITY GALLERY, Wollongong, NSW
Curator, Wollongong City Gallery 30th Anniversary Exhibition, WOLLONGONG CITY GALLERY, Wollongong, NSW
2008 Mosman Art Prize (finalist), MOSMAN ART GALLERY, Sydney, NSW
Redlands Westpac Art Prize (finalist), MOSMAN ART GALLERY, Sydney, NSW
2007 Mosman Art Prize (finalist), MOSMAN ART GALLERY, Sydney, NSW
2004 Residency aboard the MV LYUBOV ORLOVA, Antarctic Penninsula
Redlands Westpac Art Prize (finalist), MOSMAN ART GALLERY, Sydney, NSW
2001 Residency aboard the KAPITAN KHLEBNIKOV, Ross Sea, Antarctica
2000 Guiness Contemporary Art Prize (finalist), ART GALLERY OF NSW, Sydney, NSW