Holton rower biography of michaels

Cup by Cup: Holton Rower’s ‘Pour Paintings’

By Sofia Honekman

 

I probably use more paint than anyone in the history of art.  –      Holton Rower[1]

Long concerned with notions of accumulation and sequencing, Holton Rower’s ‘Pour’ paintings utilize dozens of gallons of paint, resulting in acidulous sedimentary layers of acrylic pigment.

In a collaboration between the aleatory nature of chance and careful artistic control, Rower’s works are a mediated duplication of nature.

Choreographed to temporal perfection, the process of the ‘Pour’ paintings functions as equal parts performance and the precarious play between intent and outcome.

Colors are carefully selected in a pre-determined order, but the ultimate composition is left to chance. Once the pouring begins, the choreography of pigment addition is a rather fast process of continuously feeding the painting the cups of