November 9 - December 7, 1996

The Charles Cowles Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of new sculptures by HOWARD BEN TRE from November 9 through December 7, 1996. The Gallery is located at 420 West Broadway and the hours are Tuesday through Saturday 10am until 6pm. There will be a reception for the artist on Thursday, November 7th, from 6-8pm at the Gallery.

Internationally known for his pioneering work in cast glass, HOWARD BEN TRE continues his exploration into the formal and aesthetic qualities of this sculptural medium in his upcoming exhibition at Charles Cowles. Using a combination of glass with bronze, steel, or stone, BEN TRE has created a new series of works called "Bearing Figures", which are derived from his earlier explorations of archetypal figure and vessel forms. BEN TRE's breakthrough technical innovations have extended his mastery of glass and allowed him to execute monumental sculptures, which can survive the rigors of outdoor installation. By combining bronze or stone with the glass, BEN TRE has created a dialogue between opacity and translucence, mass and immateriality, the forms of the sculptures metamorphosing as their luminosity changes.

HOWARD BEN TRE's work is included in over sixty museum and public collections worldwide, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. In 1990, The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. presented a ten-year retrospective of BEN TRE's work that traveled nationally and in 1994, his sculptures, drawings, and works on paper were exhibited by the Musee d'Art Moderne et d'Art Contemporain in Nice. Sculptures and works on paper created between 1991 and 1995 were the subject of the recent traveling exhibition organized by the Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art and the University of Richmond.

For further information or photographs please call (212) 925-3500.