Christos Aneste

2005

Flowers Gallery,
New York

Peter Howson turned to faith after arduous battles with alcoholism and addiction. In the exhibition Christos Aneste he chose to look towards the spirit of Christianity, and represent it in a series of emotional drawings and paintings.

Working on small square panels in a profusely detailed, expressionistic and sometimes hallucinatory style that harks back to the Northern Renaissance, Howson brings impressive skill and tragi-comic verve to subjects like the trials of Jesus, the temptation of St. Anthony and the delusions of Don Quixote.

The artist stays true to himself and portrays figurative scenes of suffering, anguish and sorrow. The difference here lies is his painterly use of media. His oils are created using soft, gentle brush work, with dramatic shifts from dark to light, and his depiction of figures in pencil have relinquished their rough edge. The results are images of a limitless semblance, the scenes of each merge forming an intangible spirit. The images exude emotion; the overall sensation is one of energy and rhythm. Despite the themes of suffering the pivotal message of this exhibition lies with salvation and redemption.