Henry Rowland

As a painter, I have always been primarily interested in abstract surrealist painting. I was profoundly inspired by the Chilean master Roberto Matta, who’s paintings seemed to me like gateways to other dimensions in both the figurative and psychological sense. I became fascinated at how working with paint textures and layers allows images to seemingly emerge from the canvas—where forms, shapes, faces seem to appear from the shadows, like images we sometimes see in clouds. Anyone familiar with Matta's works knows how intriguing, mysterious, and evocative those surreal images are. For me, working with
abstract and surreal painting is more about connecting with the imagination and the
unconscious than the literal. Lately, I am fond of using “space and luminosity” as a metaphor for freedom, and exploring “depth and shadow” as a metaphor of our quest to find it.

Henry Rowland began painting in the late 60's. He studied fine art painting and photography at The Corcoran School of Art in Washington D.C. in 1970-71 and won First Prize in the Contemporary Abstract Painting category in 1971. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Colorado in 1978 where he continued studying fine art but also studied music, production and film making. This sparked a career in the arts which has lasted to this day.

His paintings have found homes in private collections in Washington D.C., London, New York and Paris. His earlier works were mostly oil and acrylic on canvas. In the 90's, Rowland began experimenting with oils on harder surfaces, such as poster board and masonite.

Fielder Gallery, September 2012 - February 2013