Mark Howard
Untitled #56 and Untitled #8, 2021
Materials: Acrylic on canvas, 24”L x .5“W X 24”H
Location: Summa Health at AES Building, 388 South Main St. Suite 120
Cleveland-based artist Mark Howard brings vibrant energy and evolving vision to his recent abstract works. As the world experienced significant change in 2020, Howard, too, was entering a new phase in his creative journey. Known for his dynamic explorations of Black identity and urban life through figurative painting, printmaking, and collage, Howard began to shift his focus.
He shares, “For years, a figurative style was the core of my vision, yet somehow abstraction was always rearing its head as if to say, ‘What about me?’”
That call to abstraction has now taken center stage. The human figure has gradually faded from his compositions, making room for bold shapes, rich textures, and expressive colors. His current work invites viewers to engage with feeling, form, and rhythm rather than narrative. As he explains, “In my past I ‘cut out’ figurative imagery from the world around me. Now I do it with abstraction.”
Untitled #8, 2021
Materials: Acrylic on canvas, 24”L x .5“W X 24”H
Location: Arch Street Entrance to Akron City Hospital, Green Neighborhood, across North elevator
Untitled #56 and Untitled #8 are part of this recent series. Painted entirely by hand using acrylics, these works are created without templates or tape. Instead, Howard begins with underdrawings and builds each piece through intuitive layering of shapes and hues, often inspired by paper collage studies he creates continuously.
About the Artist
Mark Howard is a sculptor and painter whose public artworks can be found throughout Northeast Ohio. Born in Newark, New Jersey, he earned his BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Art. His work is part of the Cleveland Museum of Art’s collection and has been exhibited internationally, including the Biennale Internazionale dell’Arte Contemporanea in Florence, Italy. He is currently represented by HEDGE Gallery in Cleveland, Ohio.
The Healing Arts at Summa Health
- Next featured artist: Jon Barlow Hudson
- Homepage: summahealth.org/art
- More artwork in new patient tower