Mildred Howard Enters History Through the Everyday

Oakland, California — Mildred Howard, the legendary Bay Area artist, has opened a new chapter in her illustrious career with "Poetics of Memory," a groundbreaking museum survey at the Oakland Museum of California. The exhibition, running through October 18, showcases more than 50 years of Howard's work, from her pioneering copy-machine collages to her large-scale gallery installations.

Howard's art has always been a bridge between the past and the present, infusing the Bay Area landscape with public art commissions that resonate with the everyday. Her work is a testament to the human experience, capturing both the dissonance and the harmonies that shape our lives. Visitors to the exhibition are greeted by large-scale bronze keys and a padlock, honoring Harry Bridges, the revered Longshoremen's union leader who Howard credits for opening doors to workers' rights.

The exhibition's opening sculpture, a subdued yet emblematic piece, sets the tone for the rest of the show. It exemplifies Howard's unique ability to engage with history through seemingly ordinary objects, creating a distinct space where viewers can momentarily escape the noise of everyday life. Her signature dreamy quality permeates her work, offering a unique perspective that allows us to view the world from a vantage point outside its usual chaos.

One of the earliest works in the exhibition, "Magnolia Blossoms for John" (1979), is a photocopy collage that combines flowers and hands, capturing the essence of a still from Maya Deren's 1943 short film "Meshes of the Afternoon." Another early piece, an untitled Xerox collage from 1979, features a person's face shrouded in lace, a recurring motif in Howard's oeuvre.

These works hint at the artist's lifelong fascination with the layering of historical narratives, creating multiple temporal surfaces that coexist within a single frame.

In her latest work, "Moving Stills" (2026), Howard continues to explore personal narrative through the lens of film. The installation features a triptych of film stills projected for 31 minutes, drawn from Howard's first trip to the South to meet her extended family. Shot 14 years ago, the film was recently rediscovered in one of her mother's handbags, adding a poignant layer of personal history to the piece.

The film is projected through layers of lace fabric, diffusing the images and imbuing them with a dreamlike quality that evokes the feeling of a distant memory. "Moving Stills" serves as a powerful throughline in Howard's practice, linking her early film experiments to her ongoing exploration of personal narrative.