Priceless: John Holcomb

Rebecca Hossack Miami Project is now open in the East Little Havana neighbourhood of Miami, with an exhibition of work by Kansas-based artist, John Holcomb.

In this body of work Holcomb explores the beauty and mystery of the female form. It is a vision imbued with a rich sense of both romanticism and history.

For Holcomb, the appreciation of beauty is a cornerstone of human existence.

‘I can now stand in front of a woman carved 2,000 years ago out of marble, scratched into broken pottery dug up from our ancestors or painted on canvas a mere 500 years ago and instantly be transported back in time. I intrinsically know that whoever made it said the same thing I would have: That is a beautiful woman - I must do something about it!’ – John Holcomb

Holcomb uses bold colours and confident lines to energise his romantic paintings, drawing on influences as diverse as Fauvism, Matisse, Gauguin and Warhol.

In each artwork, the background is composed entirely of one colour. Within the monochrome passages Holcomb inserts a myriad of references to the beauty of women, including photographs and famous paintings. Each space has been decorated with vases, fruits and fabrics, all of which reflect the shape of a woman and how she makes the artist feel. This lush sensuality of imagery in Holcomb’s paintings confronts the historical repression of American puritan traditions.

Unlike the static background, the woman in each painting is alive in wild complimentary colour. In Holcomb’s anti-natural style, the colours are a reference to the fact that skin colour doesn’t matter – every colour of skin is a beautiful colour. 

John Holcomb has exhibited across the USA at art fairs in New York, San Francisco, Miami and Palm Springs, as well as in Singapore, Hong Kong and Paris. This is his first solo exhibition at the Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery.

The new Miami space will give the Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery a presence in America's fastest-growing city and emerging art capital.