13425 King George Boulevard
2010
archival inkjet print, edition of 3
44 x 60 in
723 East Kent Avenue 750 Hornby Street NEWSPAPER CONVEYOR SYSTEM, SURREY, BC Y FORMER CHICAGO SUN-TIMES PLANT, CHICACO, ILLINOIS 13425 King George Boulevard Catalogue available for purchase at front desk. 911 Denman Street 107th Avenue and 135A Street 10716 135 A Street [donated to Vancouver Art Gallery Auction 2011] 35 East Hastings Street 23rd Avenue and Sophia Street Two Micks King's Shadow Disco Fury Asian Cougar
Brian Howell is an award-winning editorial photographer and artist who has exhibited both nationally and internationally. He holds a BFA from Ryerson Polytechnic University in Film & Photograph. Howell is a regular contributor to Geist, Maclean’s, and Vancouver magazine, and has published a number of books including “Fame Us”, documenting celebrity impersonators, and “One Ring Circus”, following the minor leagues of professional wrestling. Brian Howell is now based in Delta, BC.
In “Wrestlers”, the artist pays homage to the lifestyle of minor league professional wrestling. Within the walls of community centers and school gymnasiums across the nation, Howell finds a larger-than-life world where wrestlers play and posture, performing for a fanatical crowd whose conduct often rivals that of the entertainer. The resulting photographs perfectly capture the power and visceral energy of a sport that has inspired near-religious devotion in the hearts of many.
“Surrey Houses” documents the interiors of abandoned homes found throughout one of Canada’s fastest growing cities. Howell’s images of the disintegrating architecture of once-idealized suburban single-family homes suggests a new dystopic urban reality. Ghosts of the original inhabitants seem to haunt the interiors in the form of discarded shoes, toys, and family photographs and simultaneously bear witness to a transient new population of drug users and bored adolescents. Captured during the brief transition between abandonment and demolition, Howell documents a phase during which the once mundane suburban home becomes remarkable.
Brian Howell’s “Impersonators” series provides a surreal glimpse into the world of celebrity lookalikes. Conjuring the aura of vintage Hollywood photography, Howell creates raw portraits that inspire surprise and amusement at a familiar face, while still maintaining a true sense of the individual beneath the artifice. Ultimately, these works explore not only the nature of fame, but also that our obsession with celebrity reveals much about the society which creates it.