Howie Green: Artist and Painter
In 1992 Howie Green came to national attention as a painter and artist with the publication of his book Jazz Fish Zen: Adventures in Mamboland. His colorful and whimsical artwork has been featured in over 20 group and solo shows and has adorned over a dozen public and private murals. He regularly creates privately commissioned portraits and corporate logo paintings.
Boston-based since the early 1970s Howie was born in Rochester, NY and raised in Rochester and Clarence Center, NY. Howie Green has a unique artist's eye for the colorful fun that springs out of our popular culture. Images from comics, celebities, movies, TV and various other flotsam and jetsam that washes up on the rocky shores of our popular media all make their way into Howie's colorful and fun Pop Art creations.
Howie uses a pop-fauvist color pallette and has an eclectic, upbeat, approach to his subject matter. Howie says a lot of people tell him that they love "his colors". Howie comments "My colors? They don't belong to me. Colors are out there floating around. I just happen to use them all!"
Unexpected Beginnings
Howie's childhood dream was to be a cartoonist and he has always been a pop-culture collector and enthusiast. The turning point in his life was a casual Christmas present he received in 1960. Howie remembers, "I got a large pad of multi-colored newsprint paper and some drawing supplies, which was odd because until then I had not shown any great interest in art or any such thing. Something clicked inside me and I started drawing and I've never stopped." Early subject matter like Archie and Dick Tracy got great reviews. "I saw what a great reaction I got from my relatives when I drew something they knew. 'Hey, that's a great drawing of Dick Tracy' and such comments were like music to my ears" Howie said. "I had found my calling!"
And the timing was perfect. At that time the art world was being blasted into orbit by a new movement that was celebrating the very subjects Howie was just beginning to draw. "I remember walking into the Albright-Knox gallery in Buffalo, NY when I was an adolescent to see the first big Pop Art show on tour in the early 60s and just being stunned. And I remember all the controversy it caused" said Howie. "Everyone was talking about it!" Giant paintings of Campbell Soup cans by Andy Warhol and comic book images by Roy Lichtenstein left an indelible mark on Howie. "I love the idea that 'art' could be fun, make me smile and still get such a huge response from people - negative or positive. Andy Warhol became to me what Elvis had been to the generation before me."
When Howie entered art school in the mid-60s at RIT in Rochester, NY, it was an explosive time in popular culture. Howie's classmates and friends included several artists who would later make their marks in the art world including noted artist and painter Peter Berg. While attending RIT Howie gained first-hand exposure to color guru Josef Albers during the summer of 1968 while he was on campus creating the two large lobby murals in the administion tower. A memorable breakfast with Mr. Albers left a strong impresson on Howie who was touched by Albers' grace and humor. Watching Albers and his assistant paint the murals inspired Howie to pursue mural projects for his entire career. The following year Howie painted his own mural on the new RIT campus in the Student Union building (click here to see photo).
In addition to Mr. Albers, instructors Bob Conge, Wendell Castle and visiting typographic master Hermann Zaph also made significant contributions to Howie's burgeoning artistic career. In the spring of Howie's senior year at RIT his most important artistic influence came through an introduction from friend and classmate Paul Parkman to color theorist, painter and architect Fritz Trautman. Fritz was an iconic figure in the art world from the 1930-1950s. He had done everything the art world had to offer. He had worked with George Eastman on the development of color film and been associated with the industrialist Kate Gleason on various enterprises including a real estate development called Concrest in East Rochester, NY. Howie found it chilling and ironic that Fritz had designed Concrest, the house and the entire development that He'd grown up in. "When I met him I knew I was there for a reason. Fate had made our paths cross and I was open to the possibilities." said Howie. "When I met Fritz in the spring of 1970 he made me re-think everything I had learned about color and form and shape and such. He was very old and in bad health but sitting on the floor of his apartment and listening to him talk opened up my mind to a whole new reality that has guided my thinking ever since. Fritz was my Buddha and I was a willing student." Click here to read more about Fritz.
Out Into the World
Howie applied the knowledge he acquired from Trautman to his growing body of work. Over the next few decades while pursuing a career as an illustrator and designer, Howie continued to paint. In the mid 80's he remembers another life-changing incident -- "I was on the phone in one of those endless conference calls and and I was doodling while my mind was on a space walk and I looked down on the my pad and I had drawn a fish with a beret playing a saxophone. I thought it was odd, but it made me laugh so I put it up on my wall and kept looking at it for a few days and decided it was worth developing. Then, a day or 2 later out of the clear blue sky, I got a phone call from Peter Max, who I thought was a friend of mine making a crank call," remembers Howie. "Max has always been one of my favorite artists and a huge influence on me. I discovered his work in the mid-60s when he was an illustrator before the pop cosmic phase that made him famous." At the time of Max's phone call Howie was art director of "New Age Journal" and he had done a Max-like illustration for the magazine. Howie recalls "Peter saw my illustration and called me to see if we would like to use him to do artwork for the magazine. I was thrilled! Not only did he do artwork for "New Age Journal" for me, but I also worked with him for several years on projects for the University of New Hampshire. I'm also proud to say, Peter did his very first sports painting for me for the cover of the Boston Celtics Media Guide."
Adventures in Mamboland
The creation of the Jazz Fish and working with Peter Max began a very fertile period for Howie that
saw him produce hundreds of paintings centering around the Jazz Fish and Mamboland, the fanciful world he inhabits. This all came to a head with the publication of Howie's book "Jazz Fish Zen" in 1993, and lead to a series of solo and group shows filled with Mamboland artwork. In addition, Mamboland and its characters have all been translated into computer 3-D characters and animated for various promotion purposes including a children's activity CD-Rom. The Jazz Fish was liscensed as the name of one of the ships in the America's Cup Races, with a 20 foot tall Jazz Fish on the main sail.
Celebrity portraits
Howie's celebrity portraits combine digital technology and traditional painting to reflect the genre
developed by Warhol and Max, but in a whole new approach, unique to Howie. "I was looking for a way
to do something with my art and with my growing pile of computers and technology and I found it."
Howie has continued through the 1990s and into the new millennium to paint and create new images and works that combine his endless curiosity, technology and color...lots and lots of color! Regarding his use of color Howie said, "I was in art school during the era, of Peter Max, Yellow Submarine and the San Francisco rock posters. What can I say? I guess it "colored" my thinking!" ...Indeed.
Acolades & Awards
Howie's design and illustration work has won over 40 awards from regional and national design competitions. Howie's portrait "Madonna Smoking" was featured in the 2004 British Art book "Madonna in Art" by Mem Memet. In 2005 one of Howie's album cover paintings won First Prize in the Absolut Vodka 25th Anniversary art competition in Boson, MA.
Howie's most recent public art project was 3 life-size fiberglass cows that he painted for the 2006 Boston Cows on Parade to benefit the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
And the Fun Continues...
In 2007 Howie completed an installation of two murals and 56 individual paintings on Fleming Island, Jacksonville, Florida and will complete another large mural and art project in 2008 for installation in Delray Beach, Florida. In 2007 Howie also completed a large series of pop art paintings for Sun Life Financial, an international finace company, and his portrait of rapper Biggie Smalls was used for the cover on the album "Unbelievable: A Tribute to Biggie Smalls" which featured tracks from Puff Daddy, Lil' Kim, Kayne West and many others.
In Spring of 2008 Howie completeted a second installation of entertainment themed art and 2 murals in Delray Beach, Florida (click here for photos). He is also working on a large scale project for a new Las Vegas entertainment facility and another Florida project in addtion to a new line of pop art furniture.
...some things never change!
