Rachel Howard

Key Points

• Rachel Howard is one of the infamous Young British Artists who shook up the British art world in the 1990s
• Damien Hirst’s studio assistant, she painted many of his famous early spot paintings
• Her work is collected by prestigious public and private collections, including the David Roberts Foundation in London, George Michael’s Foundation in Dallas and Damien Hirst’s Murderme Collection
• This work was previously in the collection of Frank and Lorna Dunphy, who were Damien Hirst’s managers

In Context

Having graduated from Goldsmiths College in London in 1991, Rachel Howard started working just as the Young British Artists began to be noticed. She was in fact responsible for some of the most iconic YBA works ever made – as Damien Hirst’s first assistant and best spot painter, Rachel Howard produced many of the famous early spot paintings. Yet her association with Hirst also overshadowed her own practice, as she is often better known as his assistant than for her own work.

As Howard’s own career matured, she worked on very different kinds of paintings, though the religious tone that also underlies much of Hirst’s work is a recurring theme. The large-scale abstract paintings that she is now best known for, often reveal the subtle motif of the cross which also appears in Untitled from the Inside Out series. Here, the cross is actually a detail from a window in a farm in the south of France, cropped to create a mysterious abstract yet symbolically-loaded composition. 

“I went to a Quaker school and it had such a powerful effect on my life that I’ve carried it with me ever since. I’m an atheist now but Quakerism was the first time as a child I came across a religious structure that made some sense … the silence, contemplation, the acknowledgement of our responsibilities not just to each other but also to nature, they are pacifists. I was quite unruly as a child — Quakerism makes you take responsibility for your own actions without being heavy-handed, it’s subtle and beautiful. The Quakers believe in celebrating the light within, it’ll come as no surprise that James Turrell is a Quaker, for example.”

– Rachel Howard

Rachel Howard’s work has been exhibited around the world, and is housed in prestigious public and private collections such as the David Roberts Foundation in London, George Michael’s Foundation in Dallas, Damien Hirst’s Murderme Collection in London and Thomas Olbricht’s collection in Berlin.

Biography

Presented at Explore Sydney Contemporary (11-21 November 2021)