Howard Bond

(b.1931; resides Chicago, IL)

Car Hood III, Ontario, 1984

Nixon Auto Parts #20, 1986

Tumacacori Mission, Arizona, 1984

Howard Bond’s black-and-white photographs abstract the rusted metal, peeling paint, and torn vinyl of weathered cars into elegant formal designs. Selective framing that eliminates context and relatively flat picture planes make his subjects sometimes resemble color field paintings, sometimes landscapes, but they always bear witness to the beauty that can be found even in unlikely places. Pared down to essentials, these striking pictures are nonetheless rich with texture and fine detail that reward a closer look.

Bond earned a BS in Music from Bowling Green State University, Ohio (1953), and both an MA in Music (1958) and an MS in Mathematics (1961) from the University of Michigan. He is the recipient of a Michigan Council for the Arts, Creative Artist Grant, and his work has been published in the books Light Motifs and White Motif: The Cyclades Islands of Greece. His photographs are included in the collections of The Art Institute of Chicago; LaSalle National Bank, Chicago; the Library of Congress; the National Museum of Art; and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

- Kendra Greene