i make pictures
After a career in advertising that spanned nearly two decades, I moved to Denver with my wife Kae and began making art full time.
Artist’s Statement
Questions of identity are at the heart of my practice. While cultural history and personal experience frame much of what we think of as identity, I am interested in exploring the more “fluid” or non-fixed aspects of being human. Moments of transition or passage, contradictory emotions, and states of duality are what I frequently explore in my work. I am also drawn to subjects that find humor in the absurdities of ordinary life. Depicting the human form in abstract or non-literal spaces frees me to explore its metaphorical and psychological potential, in order to make visible the complexities of the self.
To keep up with my latest art-related events and see new work as I complete it, follow me on Instagram #pennerhowellart.
If you’re interested in knowing more about me, there are a couple of good (if a bit old) interviews here:
The Nervous Breakdown, Spring, 2011
Platinum Cheese, Spring, 2011
Mark Penner-Howell is represented in Colorado by
Walker Fine Art.
Contact me at
résumé
Professional experience
2004-Present, Artist/illustrator
2000-2004, Creative Director, Vice President, Tribal DDB, Chicago.
1997-2000, Associate Creative Director, DDB Digital, Chicago
Selected Exhibitions
2022
Featured artist at Art of the State, Arvada Center, Arvada, CO
2021
L.A. Art Fair, Sally Centigrade Gallery, L.A. CA
Featured artist at Viral Influence, Arvada Center, Arvada, CO
Featured artist at Matter of Time, Walker Fine Art, Denver, CO
Featured artist at Year in Review, Arvada Center, Arvada, CO
2019
Layers of Existence, Walker Fine Art, Denver, CO
Featured artist at Year in Review, Arvada Center, Arvada, CO
Featured artist at Art of the State, Arvada Center, Arvada, CO
2018
Juxtaposed, Walker Fine Art, Denver, CO
Featured artist at In Sight On site, Arvada Center, Arvada, CO
Mural commissioned by Perry Lane Hotel, Savannah, GA
Pink Progression (III), CVA, Denver, CO
Pink Progression (II), Denver Public Library Art Gallery, Central Branch, Denver, CO
Pink Progression (I), Canyon Gallery, Boulder Public Library, Boulder, CO
2017
Featured artist at Tectonic SHIFT | Dynamics of Change, McNichols Civic center, Denver, CO
New Work, Walker Fine Art, Denver, CO
Featured artist at Complementary, Art Students League of Denver, Denver CO
2016
Featured artist at Opiates for the Masses, Helikon Gallery, Denver, CO
Featured artist at Art of the State, Arvada Center, Arvada, CO
New Work, Walker Fine Art, Denver, CO
2015
Featured artist at rePOPulated, Arvada Center, Arvada, CO
Recipient of OneWall Project mural prize, Denver, CO
New Work, Walker Fine Art, Denver, CO
Featured artist at A Tabernacle in the Wilderness, Harper Center for the Arts, Clinton, SC
2014
COLLECT: The Art of Colorado Individuals, Arvada Center, Arvada, CO
Double Rainbow Plans, Walker Fine Art, Denver, CO
Process to Consumption, Artist residency with Pangloss Gravitron at McNichols Civic center, Denver, CO
2013
Corpus Exuberis, Exhibited with Pangloss Gravitron at Emmanuel gallery, Denver, CO
Spring Preview, Walker Fine Art, Denver, CO
2012
Pangloss Gravitron, Vertigo Art Space, Denver, CO
Introductions, Walker Fine Art, Denver, CO
2011
Group Show at Walker Fine Art, Denver, CO
The New Normal, Space Gallery, Denver, CO
2010
MIX, Inaugural group exhibition, Center for Visual Art, Denver, CO
Second Degree of Separation, Group Show, Redline, Denver, CO
The Love Show, Featured Artist, Core New Art Space Gallery, Denver, CO
Artopia, Featured Artist, Denver, CO
2009
Best of Santa Fe Art District, 910 Arts Event Gallery, Denver, CO
Too Big to Fail, Solo show, CORE New Art Space, Denver, CO
The Denver Modernism Show, Denver, CO
2008
Destinesia, Solo show, CORE New Art Space, Denver, CO
Solo show at Icelantic Gallery, Denver, CO
Politics and War, Juried show at CORE New Art Space, Denver, CO
The Artists of 900 Santa Fe, Invitational group show at Center for the Arts Evergreen, Evergreen, CO
Polarities, Juried show at CORE New Art Space, Denver, CO
2007
Loud, Juried exhibit, Arts & Literature Lab, New Haven, CT
Resident artists show, TOSA, Denver, CO
The Red Show, Juried exhibition, CORE New Art Space Gallery, Denver, CO
Press
Denver Post Review of Layers of Existence
Awards and Commissions
Mural commissioned by Perry Lane Hotel, Savannah, GA, 2018
Painting purchase by Hilton Garden Inn Boulder, 2016
Recipient of OneWall Project mural prize, Denver, CO, 2015
Westword Best of Denver’s People’s Choice for Best Solo art show, 2010
Related Experience
Master Class Workshop teacher, CAEA 2015 Fall conference, Breckenridge, CO
Featured artist, Painted Sky, 106 Artists of the Rocky Mountain West, Schiffer Publishing, 2015
Featured artist, WestWord Magazine, Artist’s House Tours 2015
Magazine article, Double Entendre, Westword, 2014
Cover art, The Normal School Literary Magazine, Volume 7, Issue 2
Cover art, The Normal School Literary Magazine, Volume 5, Issue 1
