Diane Howse studied at Banbury School of Art and Exeter College of Art. After graduating (BA Honours Fine Art) she was part of the Spacex Studios (founded by Alexander McNeish) group of artists and subsequent the first person to be employed by Spacex Gallery in the early 1980s when the ground floor of the studio building was converted to a gallery. Since this time, as well as making and showing her own work, she has also worked as a curator both in established galleries and producing individual projects in other locations.
In the mid 1980s she moved to Bristol where she headed the exhibition design and display at Watershed, which at the time had a large scale gallery space, and subsequently moved to London.
In 1989 she founded the Harewood Contemporary programme at Harewood House Trust in Yorkshire and opened the Terrace Gallery, the first such commitment to contemporary art in the heritage sector. She continues a relationship with the curatorial team there in developing the changing programme of exhibitions and projects.
In 2005 she curated and produced “Appearance” a large scale exhibition over the entire disused ground floor of a building in Leeds city centre. In the following year this led to her, together with two artist curator colleagues, founding PSL [Project Space Leeds] and presenting an ongoing programme in this same space until 2012 when PSL moved to its new home The Tetley.
She has work in many private and public collections including the National Centre for Early Music and the Government Art Collection. She has shown work and produced projects in many galleries and other spaces and been a Trustee or board member for many organisations including The Hepworth Wakefield and Harewood House Trust.
Recent exhibitions include –
Ornament of Dust, 2024-2025, solo exhibition, with text by Iwona Blazwick, at Vivienne Roberts Projects. London
Leeds Artists Show 2023
Leeds Art Gallery survey exhibition of artists from across the Leeds city region.
Zigzaggery 2022-23
Solo exhibition at the Benjamin Rhodes gallery in London.
Carnevale 2023-2024, Vivienne Roberts Projects, London
A Little Closer, 2023, Group Show at Aleph Contemporary, London
A Generous Space 2021-22
Group show at Hastings Contemporary, Hastings.
Your Foot in my Face 2021
Group show of painting at Kingsgate Project Space, London.
Psychotropics 2020
Curated by Iwona Blazwick at the New Art Centre, Roche Court, Wiltshire.
