Draft:Heidi Howard

• Comment: See WP:NARTIST. Most of the sources are primary and not indepdendent, including Vogue which mostly what Howard says. In addition, this needs to be rewritten as it reads like promotional fluff. S0091 (talk) 20:56, 1 May 2025 (UTC)

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Heidi Howard is an American visual artist based in Queens, New York, recognized for their vibrant, expressive portraiture and collaborative multimedia installations. Howard's work often explores themes of identity, community, and the interplay between human figures and their environments.​ Heidi uses intimacies between friendships and it is reflected in her style of paintings with strokes and use of colors.

Early Life and Education

Howard was born and raised in Queens, New York, into a family of artists—their mother, Liz Phillips, is a pioneering sound artist, and their father, Earl Howard, is a composer and saxophonist. Howard studied at Reed College and Sarah Lawrence College. During their undergraduate years, Howard also studied in Italy at Lorenzo de’ Medici in Florence and the Scuola Internazionale di Grafica in Venice. In 2014, they completed their MFA at Columbia University School of the Arts.

Heidi originally was in the Bronx Science school that primarily focused on Math and Science. During the commutes to and from Bronx she was captivated by the Metropolitan Museum of New York. This helped her start the look at contemporary art and paved the drive in order to find art openings and start the process of her education in the art world.

Artistic Practice

Howard is best known for their intimate, color-saturated portraits that often depict friends, fellow artists, and collaborators. They typically paint their subjects from life, allowing the energy, style, and personality of each sitter to shape the composition. Howard's approach blends figuration with abstraction, frequently incorporating patterned backgrounds and floral motifs that evoke the influence of artists like Bonnard, Matisse, Hockney, and Peyton.

Heidi Howard in their studio,

Howard's work extends beyond traditional portraiture into collaborative, site-specific installations. In 2018, Howard partnered with their mother, Liz Phillips, on "Relative Fields in a Garden," a multimedia installation at the Queens Museum. This project combined Howard's large-scale paintings with Phillips' interactive soundscapes, creating a sensory experience that explored themes of intergenerational connection and the natural world.

In 2023, Howard collaborated with their partner, Esteban Cabeza de Baca, and Liz Phillips on "Light from Water," an exhibition at Wave Hill in the Bronx. The show featured paintings, sculptures, and sound installations that emphasized themes of reciprocity, interconnection, and Indigenous ways of knowing. Howard's portraits in the exhibition depicted female and gender-nonconforming creators, rendered with dense patterns, gestural lines, and saturated colors.

Exhibitions and Collaborations

Howard has exhibited widely in the United States and internationally. Notable solo and two-person exhibitions include:

• "Colors Make Us Do Vibrant Deeds!" (2024) at the Leroy Neiman Center for Print Studies, Columbia University, New York, NY.
• "Exchange Place Portraits" (2022) in Jersey City, NJ​
• "Like Water For Faces" (2019) at Continuo, Amsterdam, Netherlands​
• "Roots Run Gold to Pink" (2019) at Gaa Gallery, Provincetown, MA
• "Woven Traits" (2017) and "Portrait and Dream" (2015) at Nancy Margolis Gallery, New York, NY​

Their group exhibitions include shows at James Cohan Gallery, the Hunterdon Museum of Art, and the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art. Howard has also participated in residencies at the Rauschenberg Residency (2020), Palazzo Monti (2018), and Byrdcliffe (2014), among others.

Recent Work and Publications

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Howard embraced plein air painting, creating portraits outdoors in public spaces from Prospect Park to Taos, New Mexico. This shift allowed them to maintain artistic practice while engaging with their subjects in new, open-air contexts.

In 2024, Howard released their first monograph, "Colors Make Us Do Vibrant Deeds!," a collaborative project with designer M.H. Orfanos. The book features reproductions of Howard's work alongside writings by various authors, offering insights into their creative process and artistic philosophy.