Mildred Howard
Casanova: Swagger, Style and the Embracement of the Other - I, 2018
Jacquard tapestry
72 x 54 in.
Edition of 6

In Casanova: Swagger, Style and the Embracement of the Other, a suite of two new tapestry editions by Mildred Howard, the artist translates her signature collage method into warp and weft for the first time. The pair of tapestries incorporates illustrations found in an original edition of the autobiography of legendary 18th-century figure Giacomo Casanova, whose name has been synonymous with seduction for three centuries. Other elements include headlines drawn from Civil Rights-era newspapers that employ anachronistic language to describe racial conflicts. Given the ongoing conversation surrounding sexual transgression and powerful men (not to mention the question of civil rights in America today), Howard’s mysterious, layered images provoke a timely sense of curious scrutiny.

Howard’s new tapestries will appear in her upcoming solo exhibition at Anglim Gilbert Gallery in San Francisco, opening June 2, 2018.