“One reason I’m so drawn to C. Anthony Huber’s work is its innate heft. Not only in its physical weight but the materials he chooses: concrete, asphalt, flame. It’s heavy-duty stuff. And yet the finished compositions maintain a delicateness that can only come from a real understanding of his chosen media. Materials we associate with crude, large work like roadways and building foundations, welding, or other manufacturing, are approached by Huber with obvious care. Natural processes provide much of the intricate detail, like the crackled and charred, scored, and spotted surfaces. The addition of paint presents something like a reminder of the process: bright orange and deep black, textured white and warm grey… hinting to the viewer what the artist experienced or applied to get to the finished piece we see.”
Kate Mothes, Founder of Youngspace
My work explores the tension between erosion and repair, structure and chaos, permanence and impermanence. Engaging with utilitarian materials—concrete, construction detritus, and traditional art media—I seek to provoke a visceral response to the collision of these elements. Through the physical processes of building up and wearing down, my work captures the transient beauty found in decay and renewal.
Formally, I am drawn to the human tendency to seek patterns and align what we see with what we know. Within compositions that may appear haphazard, experimental, and physical in nature, I strive to define a balance—an underlying structure that emerges from disorder. Materiality and abstraction are central to my practice, yet the conceptual foundation lies in the intersection of temporality and environment, challenging conventional notions of painting as a medium. My approach is deeply influenced by what I term “urban wabi-sabi,” a reinterpretation of the traditional Japanese aesthetic that embraces imperfection, transience, and the interplay between damage and repair.Perhaps the most profound influence on my work stems from my years in war-torn Beirut and Beijing during the rise of the pro-democracy movement. Witnessing an ancient culture dismantled to make way for economic expansion left an enduring imprint on my artistic perspective. The memory of war zones, sprawling fields, urban streets, and neglected rural towns informs my visual language—each landscape a palimpsest of history, bearing traces of past and present.
This exploration of time, memory, and mark-making culminated in Pillar Sundial, a sculpture three years in the making, installed at Cascade Creek Park in Rochester, MN, in June 2021. Standing fifteen feet tall and weighing 2.5 tons, the sundial serves as both a functional marker of time and an echo of prehistoric mark-making, reminiscent of the Lascaux cave paintings—an ancient attempt to impose order on a seemingly chaotic world. Similarly, my work invites viewers to reconsider the relationship between decay and creation, structure and erosion, and the ways in which time leaves its imprint on both the built and natural landscapes.
Education
1995 M.A. History - Iowa State University, Ames, IA
1989 B.A. History - Chaminade University of Honolulu, Honolulu, HI
Public Art Project - Pillar Sundial
2021 Pillar Sundial, Cascade Creek Park, Rochester, MN
North American Installation Project
2017/18 Elements Project, 35 States, BC, Yukon, NWT, Arctic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Dec 2017 - Sept 2018
Painting Solo Exhibitions
2026 Proof of Existence, Veronique Wantz Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2020 In the Public Realm, Threshold Arts Gallery, Rochester, MN
2018 In Search of the Lost Glacier, 125 Live, Rochester, MN (July-Sept)
2017 Fire & Fumage, UCR Gallery, Rochester, MN
2016 Re-Surface, RAC2 Gallery, Rochester Art Center, Rochester, MN
Painting Two Person
2016 Untitled, 535 Gallery Exhibition, Rochester, MN (with Cynthia Kath)
Painting Group Exhibition
2025 Spring/Summer Exhibit, Veronique Wantz Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2025 Hamden Art League, Winter Exhibition, Hamden, CT
2024 Winter Exhibit, Veronique Wantz Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2024 Spring/Summer Exhibit, Veronique Wantz Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2023 Winter Salon Exhibition, Veronique Wantz Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2022 Summer Group Show, Veronique Wantz Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2022 Winter Salon Exhibition, Veronique Wantz Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2020 Mirror Eye, Ortega Y Gasset Projects, Brooklyn, NY
2020 Course of Nature, Anderson Center at Tower View, Red Wing, MN
2019 Fall Salon Exhibition, Veronique Wantz Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2018 In Situ, Cody Barber Studio, Marfa, TX
2017 Small Works, Black Earth Gallery, Cedar Rapids, IA
2017 ArtVenice Biennale IV, ARTism3160, Venice, Italy
2017 Together With, Rocky Mountain Academy of Art & Design, Philip J. Steele Gallery, Denver, CO (Sept)
2017 Together With, Diane Endres Ballweg Gallery, Madison, WI (May)
2016 Boston Biennial 4, Finalist, Atlantic Works Gallery, Boston, MA
2105 Project Bike with Dana Sikkila, 410 Project, Mankato, MN
2015 Pazzia: A Condition of Inspired Frenzie, Gallery 13, Minneapolis, MN
2015 Artistry, Bloomington Art Center, Bloomington, MN
2014 Encroaching City / Our Earth, Flow Art Space, St. Paul, MN
2013 build-up, build on (with Liddy Kohl & Rachel Egberg), Northfield Art Guild, Northfield, MN
Photography Group Exhibitions
2024 Arts at Yale Health, Yale University, New Haven, CT
2019 The Found Object, Praxis Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2019 CameraBOLD, Black Earth Gallery, Cedar Rapids, IA
Publications
F-Stop Magazine, “At Night,” Dec/Jan 2019
Creative Quarterly, No. 46, Spring 2017, Brooklyn
ArtMaze Magazine, International Issue, No 2, 2017, London.
Studio Visit Magazine, Vol. 35, Winter 2017, New York
Art Reveal Magazine (cover), No. 17, June 2016, 34-39.
Fresh Paint Magazine (now Create! Magazine), International Edition, Issue 11, Feb. 2016, London
Media
Midwest Access - Cascade Lake Pillar Sundial - KTTC, Rochester MN, July 25, 2024
Off 90, KMSQ, Season 9; R-Town, Episode 601, Minnesota Public Television, 2018
Brian Lund, “C. Anthony Huber: Ommission by cement, 507 / Entertainment Magazine, Cover image, Sept. 7, 2017
Samantha Keith, “C. Anthony Huber,” Fresh Contemporary Blog
Granquist, Paula, ArtZany, KYMN Radio, Artist Interview, Oct 16, 2016
Mothes, Kate, “C. Anthony Huber,” Young-Space Blog
Kosfelt, Gordy, AM Minnesota, Artist Interview, KDHL Radio, Oct 4, 2016
Eiler, Mike, Power 96 Radio Artist Interview, Sept 26, 2016
Julia Brown, ”Artists Offer New Perspectives at Paradise Center Exhibitions,” Faribault Daily News, Sept 8, 2016
507 / Entertainment Magazine, Art Out of Context, June 23, 2016
Bryan Lund, “Artist Takes Cue From Street,” Post-Bulletin, Feb. 16, 2016
507 / Entertainment Magazine, Artist in Focus, June 11, 2015, p. 12-13
Thomas Erickson, Art Review, Reverb Magazine, Feb.11, 2014
Books
2020 Lumen Naturae: Visions of the Abstract in Art and Mathematics, Cambridge, MA, MIT Press, Prof. Matilde Marcolli.
Exhibitions Curated/Professional
2024 Public Art Sculpture Selection Committee, Arts4Trails, Cascade Lake Park, Rochester, MN
2019 Juror for Anderson Center at Tower View Fellowship Residency, Red Wing, MN
2017 Curator, To What End, Curator, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
2017 Founder, Gennesse Project Gallery, Rochester, MN
2015-16 Curator, Art at Steam, Café Steam, Rochester, MN
Residencies
2018 Anderson Center at Tower View Fellowship, Red Wing, MN
2017 Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
Grants
2017 / 2018 Vermont Studio Center Artist's Merit Grant
2015 McKnight Foundation Southeastern Minnesota Art Council (SEMAC) Individual Artist Grant
Galleries Representation
Veronique Wantz Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
huberstudio1@gmail.com