Artist Statement
Patrick Howe puts bread on his table by teaching traditional oil painting classes. However, his interests extend beyond traditional realism. He also creates works that are less market-driven, such as the Post Personalism work on this website, which has a very different appearance, and addresses philosophical ideas. Particularly ideas that explore the theme of human identity.
Post Personalism is an art movement that transcends egocentricity and is based in the awareness that the artist and creativity are something the whole universe is doing.
In the Post Personal Project, Patrick Howe uses the lens of Post Personalism through which to view the issues and problems of self-centricity, which he believes are at the root of all social, political and individual problems.
Poet T.S. Eliot said "True poetry is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality."
Likewise, the Post Personal Project is not about personality, but coming from a deeper place than personality alone.
Personality comes from the word "persona", which means mask, or our outer appearance. Post personalism looks behind the mask and brings attention to the authentic, beautiful being that is our true identity. (More about Post Personalism).
Style Divergence
The style divergence in this series was done intentionally to underscore that post personalism is not a new kind of style but a new kind of content.
It is commonly understood that an artwork series would contain somewhat similar appearing works in order to demonstrate a congruent style. In this artwork however, Howe intentionally created each piece to look stylistically different from the other pieces in the series. This was done in order to make a statement about diminishing the notion of personal stylistic ownership. A post personalist artist may have a unique style but he or she would not necessarily be defined by it.
Patrick Howe puts bread on his table by teaching traditional oil painting classes. However, his interests extend beyond traditional realism. He also creates works that are less market-driven, such as the Post Personalism work on this website, which has a very different appearance, and addresses philosophical ideas. Particularly ideas that explore the theme of human identity.
Post Personalism is an art movement that transcends egocentricity and is based in the awareness that the artist and creativity are something the whole universe is doing.
In the Post Personal Project, Patrick Howe uses the lens of Post Personalism through which to view the issues and problems of self-centricity, which he believes are at the root of all social, political and individual problems.
Poet T.S. Eliot said "True poetry is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality."
Likewise, the Post Personal Project is not about personality, but coming from a deeper place than personality alone.
Personality comes from the word "persona", which means mask, or our outer appearance. Post personalism looks behind the mask and brings attention to the authentic, beautiful being that is our true identity. (More about Post Personalism).
Style Divergence
The style divergence in this series was done intentionally to underscore that post personalism is not a new kind of style but a new kind of content.
It is commonly understood that an artwork series would contain somewhat similar appearing works in order to demonstrate a congruent style. In this artwork however, Howe intentionally created each piece to look stylistically different from the other pieces in the series. This was done in order to make a statement about diminishing the notion of personal stylistic ownership. A post personalist artist may have a unique style but he or she would not necessarily be defined by it.