Holton Rower: If All the Nice People Rose Up

Rower, a New York-based artist born in 1962 and grandson of Alexander Calder, is renowned for a process that toys with the precarious relationship between artistic manipulation and chance. His signature "pour paintings" are created by cascading hundreds of cups of doctored paint onto plywood, allowing gravity to dictate the flow across the surface. The result is a kaleidoscopic, topographic map of color that resembles fossilized forms or streams of flowing lava.

In this latest body of work, Rower evolves his technique by integrating reflective elements and metallic flecks into his palettes. In several pieces, silver leaf is suspended within dark pigments, creating a celestial effect reminiscent of stars in a distant galaxy or the Northern Lights. These newer works utilize "intention dams" and "exclusions" (obstacles placed on the plywood to force the paint to change direction) to create complex, swirling vortices of light and shadow.

The exhibition highlights Rower’s fascination with the physical substance of paint. While he carefully selects the color order, the final image is a "cooperative performance" with nature, where the paint flows slowly and determinedly to create protrusions, fissures, and "hats" that can extend up to a foot from the surface. These works blur the line between painting and sculpture, inviting viewers into a "hypnotic travelogue" of vibrant, psychedelic layers.

Holton Rower has exhibited extensively at major venues including The Pace Gallery, The Hole, and Venus Over Manhattan, as well as internationally in London, Paris, and Switzerland. Rower’s work is featured in numerous private and public collections, including the permanent collection of the New Orleans Museum of Art.

For more information, please contact the Arthur Roger Gallery at 504.522.1999 or visit our website at arthurrogergallery.com.