Peter Howson's 'Redemption' Exhibition at Flowers Gallery Explores Religious Themes Through Brutalist Realism

Peter Howson's exhibition 'Redemption' at Flowers Gallery in New York City from March 29 to May 5, 2012 presents religious paintings marking the artist's turn toward faith. The Scottish painter, known for brutalist-realist works depicting social dystopia, now focuses on scenes of damnation and hell. Howson emerged from Glasgow's figurative revival in the 1980s alongside Ken Currie, developing an extreme mannerism blending Renaissance technique with moral critique. His career includes neo-expressionist beginnings at Glasgow School of Art, war artist commissions in Bosnia, and a diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome. The exhibition features his characteristic stock characters—thugs and sirens—in ecclesiastical settings, with adventurous spatial compressions and imaginative scale. Howson's figurative vocabulary remains binary, struggling to depict salvation despite the show's optimistic title. His work has attracted collectors including Madonna and Sylvester Stallone. The artist's personal journey includes recovery from alcoholism and a nervous breakdown documented by the BBC.