Robert Howare's exhibition at ROY G BIV in Columbus, Ohio

Robert Howsare
ROY G BIV Gallery, 997 N High St, Columbus, OH 43201
September 7 – 28, 2013

No longer living in Columbus, I don't make it to ROY G BIV as often as I'd like. When I looked to see what they were showing this month, I knew I'd have to make a trip to see Robert Howsare's exhibition of 2013 works. His exploration of how and why we perceive the way we do is not only an interesting gateway to understanding how our minds work, it is beautiful. I admit I am a bit of a sucker for artwork like this. I enjoy taking the time to look, process, and look some more. When an artist specifically invites that sort of visual interaction, I accept.

Howsare is working similarly to Op Art, focusing on disruption as the brain tries to make patterns of incongruous information it receives from the eyes. Most of the works on display used moiré patterns, a phenomena most people know as the swirling effect of overlapping lines in two overlapping screens. The Moiré Painting series is actually made of black chiffon and organza wrapped over each other in the shape of a traditional painting. Changing position gives the viewer a different pattern as the brain makes sense of the overlapping weaves in the fabrics.

For me the most successful 2d piece was Moiré Drawing II. Slightly metallic colored lines overlap at various angles to create the illusion of other lines at the intersections. By limiting different groups of lines to certain regions of the picture plane, a wider variety of patterns is created. This exposes the structure that enables the perceptual shenanigans without detracting from the effect while allowing interplay between the different types of interference in the work. The varying values and reflectivity in the metallic flecks suggest depth that only vanishes on closer inspection.

In most of Howsare's works, motion and depth are only implied through interference patterns. In Rift, slowly sinking horizontal lines are projected onto strips of brightly colored tape strung across the corner of two adjacent walls. Here the motion is actual, but still distorted. The same lines are projected onto all of the strips of tape, but seem to track at different speeds. Close observation of two strips can reveal the speeds in that specific area are actually the same, but it is difficult to break the illusion on the entire piece simultaneously.

The only piece that seemed out of place to me was Spectre, a serigraph of grids of black squares printed on several smaller sheets of paper. I think it was the success of the other works in creating perceptual anomalies that left me wanting something more from Spectre. The rest of the works on display played more with color and shifted in response to viewer position. In another context I think it would have held its own much better.

The subjectivity of observation illustrated in this exhibition suggest the inability of humans to perceive anything absolutely. If we can't see something as simple as geometric patterns without imposing our own perceptual order, how can we be objective about more complex natural and human situations? Perhaps it is an invitation to take the time to view things from more angles and in different lights to get closer to a complete picture. Using memory through time helps us come to a better, though still partial, understanding.

If you get a chance, take a trip to ROY G BIV Gallery in Columbus OH before September 27 to see this show. Treat your mind by fooling it.   Brett Barton