Rebecca Watson Horn

Rebecca Watson Horn (Boston, 1981) lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. She received a BFA from The Cooper Union, an MFA from Rutgers University, and attended The Mountain School of Arts, Los Angeles.

Language as it exists in the body, words and letters themselves have been at the center of Rebecca Watson Horn’s painterly investigation for several years. Her paintings begin with a written phrase—an intention or a spell—which becomes physical through the gestural application of paint on a variety of burlap surfaces. Words and phrases are stripped of their initial purpose and abstracted to the pure forms of letters. These autonomous and unruly forms invite the viewer to read them through their own experience.

The artist’s solo exhibitions include The Secret Life of Vowels at Emanuela Campoli in Paris (2024); at galleria Marta Cervera in Madrid (2024); Sigils at Auroras in São Paulo (2023); letters as such at Deli Gallery in New York (2023); Rebecca Watson Horn at White Columns in New York (2017); Rub It In at Soloway in Brooklyn (2011).

Her work has been featured in several group exhibitions such as A study in Form (Chapter Two), curated by Arden Wohl, at James Fuentes in New York (2023); always in my room bc I put effort into it & I love the vibe of my lights at Starr Suites in Brooklyn (2023); The Practice of Everyday Life at Derosia in New York (2022); JAG Projects at Forland, curated by Jesse Aran Greenberg, at Catskill in New York (2022); Pure Joy, curated by Chella Man, at 1969 Gallery in New York (2022);

Horn presented works from her Semaphores series in the collaborative project Sounds the Mouth Can’t Make with choreographer Andros Zins-Browne and designer Victoria Bartlett at Canepa Selling in Los Angeles (2023).
As a member of the collective Canaries, she participated in an exhibition at Cleopatra’s in Brooklyn (2014) and a residency at Recess in New York (2016).