Margarita Howis: Doesn’t Wait for Space—She Creates It

Margarita Howis Does Not Ask for Rooms. She Occupies Them. Over the last year, Margarita has produced such artworks that she literally follows you after the gallery. Solo shows in three cities, a fashion show at Art Basel. An ambush portrait of Lil Yachty with his autograph at the bottom shot at New York Fashion Week. Collectors – Jason Derulo, Offset, and AQUA.

Shows in the United Nations. More than 2,500 participants in workshops with Margarita from all over the planet. They were given brushes for the first time. That's how an artist works: be in the flow of things and prepare for it for many years quietly and consistently.

But if we look closer, we will see that Margarita Howis, first of all, is a portrait artist, but of a unique kind. Her work focuses on the psychological space between the person we used to be and the one we become. Faces in her paintings change, fall apart, and grow together in front of our eyes.

And her style implies expressive distortion, texture, and emotionally saturated palette that emphasize not an outward resemblance but the inner condition of her models. "I don't paint people as they are. I paint them as they are becoming," says Howis.

What lies in the foundation of her approach? Process over perfection, intentional looseness. "The truth is way more important than clarity. That's my main motto," – says the artist. Her style is not what it looks like. But what it feels like.

First, in January, Margarita Howis exhibited her works in the studio of Remee Jackman in Copenhagen – show named The Art of Becoming, deliberately unfinished, focused on allowing the identity to be born without any limitations.

Next – Miami, Eden After Dark at Amarna Gallery – the price of power and freedom of choice, "the transformation of innocence into experience, and what happens next when innocence leaves the room."

The third exhibition, The Currency of Identity in Saphira & Ventura Gallery, New York, became her most vulnerable. "New York forces me to strip off all layers and reveal my true self", – says Howis. It was devoted to the price of success as a woman, immigrant, and creator. It was a turning point.

Then, during New York Fashion Week, Margarita Howis invited Lil Yachty to her street studio and drew his portrait on the spur of the moment, without any prior permission and announcement. The young rapper signed it and left. This was one of those planned spontaneities characteristic of Margarita. As to her collectors, Jason Derulo, Offset, Lil Yachty, AQUA – there is no common thing about them except that no one ever felt alienated from the artist's work. Margarita Howis doesn't think in terms of art communities. During Art Basel Miami, she held a fashion show in collaboration with Winston Bartholomew, exhibiting her hand-painted garments. "When the body wears the work, it stops being perceived and starts being lived," she explains.

As for her projects and collaborations, we should mention her mural in Brooklyn commissioned by Underhill Walls which turned out to be her biggest piece yet. She has interacted with passers-by who contacted her later on. Moreover, her works have been exhibited at Paradox Museum during Black History Month in an exhibition curated by ArtBubbl, dedicated to exploring African-American cultural history. "I don't want people to perceive my works passively. I want them to feel uncomfortable," says the artist. In New York, she has exhibited her works in One Art Space Gallery and Triangle Loft, took part in Art Affair in the Hamptons, was a member of the jury of the finals of UP Mag Art Battle, actively helping the local community.

Speaking of pivot, Margarita Howis prefers to stay coherent – figuring out what belongs to her essence. "I don't believe that artists have to figure everything out from the very beginning of their career. I believe that one has to stay brave enough to evolve and be honest to oneself". In her portraits, psychological processes take place, cultural phenomena are recorded, identity formation is tracked. Tensions arise between power and weakness, self-affirmation and vulnerability. Margarita Howis is not coming – she sets standards for Excellence.