What happens when artists known for their paintings turn to printmaking? At Pallant House Gallery, Rachel Howard and Frank Auerbach: Noise explores how two artists used print to experiment with materials, make bold and expressive marks, and explore what it means to be human. 

Open until 31 January 2027, the exhibition brings together woodcuts by contemporary British artist Rachel Howard (b. 1969) and etchings by the late Frank Auerbach (1931–2024). Drawn from newly acquired works in the Gallery’s collection, the prints reveal unexpected connections between two artists from different generations, as well as the distinct ways they approached their work.

Rachel Howard is best known for her abstract and figurative paintings, which explore themes of beauty, violence, loss and mortality. Printmaking has also been an important part of her practice, giving her another way to explore these subjects. 

In the Crash series, featured in the exhibition, Howard creates bold woodcuts featuring her younger sister, who has long been a source of inspiration for her work. Many were made after Howard suffered a severe car accident, which left her physically incapacitated for several months. During her recovery, she could only carve the wooden blocks gently.

Woodcuts involve cutting into a block of wood, leaving raised areas to take the ink and create the printed image. Each cut leaves a permanent mark, making the process both satisfying and unforgiving. 

For Howard, this physical process is central to the work. Her prints bring together striking images of the body with the tensions between beauty and destruction, intimacy and distance. As she explained in 2016: 

‘The act of carving is so satisfying but also unforgiving not unlike the process of making my drawings.’ 

The result is a series of confronting, graphic images that explore the complexities of human experience.

Frank Auerbach was celebrated for his paintings and drawings, which captured his subjects through layers of paint and energetic, heavily worked marks. His prints offer another perspective on his approach to making art. 

Auerbach arrived in Britain as a child refugee from Nazi Germany in 1939. He developed an interest in drypoint etching while studying at the Royal College of Art, going on to experiment with the medium throughout his career. 

Rather than using a conventional etching needle, Auerbach often worked with tools such as screwdrivers and nails to scratch into metal plates. This allowed him to create a distinctive range of marks, from broad, forceful lines to finer details.

The prints in Noise include images of Ruth, one of his regular sitters, alongside expressive figure studies. Through his energetic markmaking, Auerbach explored not only the appearance of his subjects, but also his long-standing connection with them. 

Printmaking gave him another way to work with line, texture and memory, creating images with a character of their own.

How do these two artists speak to each other? 

Despite their different approaches, Howard and Auerbach share an interest in the human body, personal relationships and mortality. Both use the physical process of making a print to explore subjects that are often difficult, complex and deeply personal. 

The exhibition’s title, Noise, refers to the unwanted ink that can catch on rough or uncarved areas of a printing surface. These unexpected marks are part of what makes printmaking so distinctive, bringing an element of chance into the process. 

By bringing these works together, Noise shows how printmaking can open up new possibilities for artists, even those best known for working in other mediums. Howard’s woodcuts and Auerbach’s etchings demonstrate how a simple mark on a surface can carry remarkable weight, capturing the intensity and vulnerability of human experience.