Howard Fonda
Quand la cage est faite, l’oiseau s’envole

May 15 to June 20, 2021

Ampersand is pleased to present Quand la cage est faite, l’oiseau s’envole, an exhibition of new paintings by Howard Fonda. “The works,” he says, “are very nostalgic. Being confined to our home this past year, I would often reminisce about the many inspiring natural places I have visited, either alone or with my family. That began a series of landscapes of various places that continue to influence and resonate with me today. Some of them date back to early childhood. Some are right here in our current neighborhood." Like a day in the woods, the paintings shift and change depending on your perspective, mood and sense of awareness. They capture that uncanny dreamlike state that is often manifest when walking through a forest, resting at the edge of a lake or pausing to contemplate the slow babble of a shallow hillside stream. Fonda’s small studies of Northwest birds add a sense of song to the exhibition. "Despite living in the city," he notes, "we are lucky to be in an area that attracts a wide variety of birds. I often see them out my studio window and find myself daydreaming with them." The exuberant birdsong at first light, a flutter of wing—quick, precise movements within a tangle of branches. A moment of flight in these days when it often feels like we are confined. 

Howard Fonda lives and works in Portland, Oregon. He received his MFA in painting and drawing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Recent solo exhibitions include Licorice at Grifter in New York and The Message or the Messenger at Goldfinch Gallery in Chicago. He was part of the group exhibition Land Purchase alongside Jason Silva and Robert Pokorny here at Ampersand in 2017. This is his first solo exhibition with the gallery.