Mark Howson was born in Staffordshire, England and arrived Australia in 1969. He was a founding member of Roar Studios – one of Melbourne’s earliest (fiercest) artist-run-initiatives. Howson’s art practise encompasses drawing, painting and sculpture. His work is highly regarded for it’s meditative, cubist style, which developed from vigourous expressionism into avant-garde abstraction. Popular representations include simple, textural forms in carefully balanced, bright compositions.

Mark studied Art and Design at Prahran College and Painting at the Victorian College of the Arts. He was a founding member of Roar Studios – one of Melbourne’s first Artist-run gallery and studio spaces, which opened in Fitzroy in 1982. Since then Mark has held solo exhibitions in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane and has been represented in numerous group exhibitions around Australia as well as Tokyo.

His work is held in the collections of the Australian National Gallery, National Gallery of Victoria, Geelong Art Gallery, Ballarat Art Gallery, New Parliament House Canberra, Art Bank, Monash University and numerous private collections in Australia, Europe, USA and Japan.

He lives and works on a small farm near Kyneton, Victoria, and his work is informed by the surrounding landscape.