Biographical Summary
In 1992, American artist, Dean Howell, moved his studio to Santa Fe, after working twelve years in New York City. A passionate and natural sculptor, he is also uncommonly versatile and talented across the media board. Clay, wood, steel, bronze, resins, oils, and acrylics lend themselves, intricately, to his sensitivities and creative control.
While in New York, he wrote, produced, and directed an Off-Off Broadway play about “the artistic spirit”, and developed a large body of work he aptly calls LIVING REALISM — given the live, visceral response the work provokes. Known in the east for his large-scale, resin heads (8 - 10 feet high), and huge, graphite drawings, Howell’s point of view, and visual dynamic differs drastically from the traditional Southwest imagery, though much of his work does focus on ethnic themes, including the American Indian (Howell, himself, is one-eighth Blackfeet).
Over the years, three major themes have evolved: LIVING REALISM, an uncanny emphasis on visual and psychological realism; and mixed media forms called TIME MARKERS — a series of sculptures marking significant changes in the human condition throughout the world; and a mixed media, ASSIMILATION SERIES, which expresses Howell’s interpretation of the affects of being assimilated. Most recently, these themes have merged, alternating between avant–garde, social statements, and traditional imagery…all with his stamp of passion and power of execution. The essence of his work is connected in purpose and feeling, whether flat or three-dimensional, big or little, paper or bronze, old or new. He follows his own sensibilities, avoiding lifetime styles.
