About Ludwig Schwarz:
Ludwig Schwarz lives and works in Dallas where he continues to exhibit locally as well as nationally and internationally. His resume includes many one-person exhibits, a Retrospective (1990-2014) and several international exhibitions. Although primarily known for his innovative abstract paintings, his oeuvre spans various media featuring sculptures, videos, installations, and provocative art staging. According to Dallas art critic Rick Brettel “…he is quite possibly the most important painter who has lived in our city in the last generation”. His abstract work has been variously described as complex, pleasantly puzzling, or absurdist and insanely clever. Seemingly questioning the nature of paintings and sometimes art in general, Ludwig Schwarz prods the viewer to engage with his uncanny and untraditional vision.
About Howard Sherman:
Rudolph Blume Fine Arts Gallery is happy to welcome back artist Howard Sherman with Ludwig Schwarz/Howard Sherman.
This exhibition exemplifies Sherman’s continual experimentation with collage and sculptural elements within his paintings. His use of irregular-shaped canvas pieces, cut or torn from older work or raw canvas, add a three-dimensional aesthetic to these draped, free-flowing canvases. An assertive color palette adds complexity to the new work. The result is a measure of raw power and heft. The otherwise aggressive appearance of these human-scale canvases is offset by elements of cartooning, specific art history references and a sense of playfulness. With Ludwig Schwarz/Howard Sherman, his artistic progression is on full display. A suite of small works on paper is also on view, offering a distilled examination of his process.
Sherman has had a longstanding friendship with Rudolph Blume Fine Arts Gallery for many years. The Houston/New York City based artist has previously exhibited at the gallery, in addition to, curating a group exhibit.
Sherman was chosen for the cover of the recently published art history book Texas Abstract: Modern/Contemporary by Michael Paglia and Jim Edwards (Fresco Books.) His work is in several museum collections and is on permanent display at Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas. The artist has been profiled numerous times in New American Paintings, and appears in the 2010 book Texas Artists Today. Rice University is now collecting his personal artifacts for its research center.
