NADA Miami 2020

Balancing the individual experience as part of a larger collective history, these Mildred Howard and Forrest Kirk artworks continue redefining and recontextualizing this shared identity. The artists expel stereotypes by taking hold of the ideas and transforming them in their own ways. Howard and Kirk explore the meanings and relationships of language whether in literature or poetry through imagery, paintings and reimagined objects.

The bold chromatic diversity of Kirk’s paintings are achieved using a variety of media ranging from oils and acrylic to bubble wrap, fabric and Gorilla glue. His images often reference psychological uncertainty and anxiety arising from underlying power structures, specifically those experienced in contemporary urban settings.

Howard uses found objects alongside personal memorabilia for her assemblages, collages and larger installation works often focused on political and societal issues presented with humor and wit. They trace and unearth the history of her family and of many migrant families within the United States. Howard’s work attempts to fill the many racial gaps in the historical canon.

Mildred Howard (b. 1945, SF, CA) has received the Lee Krasner Award for lifetime of artistic achievement, Nancy Graves Grant for Visual Artists, Joan Mitchell Foundation Award, fellowship from California Arts Council, Adaline Kent Award from SFA, and Douglas G. MacAgy Distinguished Achievement Award at San Francisco Art Institute. Her works reside in the permanent collections of: the Berkeley Art Museum; the de Young Museum; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego; the Museum of Glass and Contemporary Art; the Oakland Museum,; SFMOMA; and the San Jose Museum of Art, among others.

Forrest Kirk’s (b. 1975) work resides in numerous private collections and foundations, as well as in the permanent collections of the Hammer Museum, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, and the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego.