Dubai

Holton Rower

​Born in 1962, Holton Rower lives and works in New York. Rower expresses a fascination in the substance of the various materials he uses particularly in his ‘Pour’ paintings. With the process as intriguing as the resultant kaleidoscopic canvas, Holton toys with the precarious relationship between artistic manipulation and chance. His abstract creations recall the psychedelic art of the 1960’s whilst resembling a fossilised form of acidulous colour.

Cup by cup, hundreds of different colours cascade down, determining their own path like a flowing stream of lava. In several of the works, IntentionDams have been built on the paintings surface forcing the paint to flow around it. Holton experiments with the forces of nature, letting his artistic process be guided by gravity.

Within each pour painting, which consists of up to 50 gallons of paint, Rower toys with intent and outcome. Whilst he carefully selects the colour order, and the pouring of the paint is precise, much of the result- ant image is a a product of chance. With no premeditated outcome and minimal artistic manipulation, the resultant artwork is a kaleidoscopic creation resembling a fossilised form.

Evocative of Kandinsky, and the effect synethesia had on his work, the repetition of the various rivers of colour within Holton’s art create an underlying rhythm which pulsates throughout his work. Like a piece of music, his pour paintings have soft and subtle sections that quietly sing in the background, whilst louder more aggressive colours jump forward akin to the intense crescendo of musical composition. Juxtaposing earthly hues with bright and almost luminescent colours, Rower’s work is reminiscent of the psychedelic art of the 1960’s. SImultaneously calming yet exuberant, one can happily be drawn into the acidulous colours and hypnotic nature of the pour paintings.