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 recent solo exhibitions include A Palavra Errada at Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel, São Paulo, Brasil (2026); Sono, at Villa di Geggiano, Siena, Italy (2025) and The Secret Life of Vowels at Emanuela Campoli, Paris (2024); Sigils at Auroras, São Paulo (2023); letters as such at Deli Gallery, New York (2023); Rebecca Watson Horn at White Columns, New York (2017); Rub It In at Soloway, Brooklyn (2011). 
 

Her work has been featured in several group exhibitions including Recursions at Haus zum Winkel in Zurich (2026), 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, Brooklyn (2023); The Practice of Everyday Life at Derosia, New York (2022); JAG Projects at Forland, curated by Jesse Aran Greenberg, at Catskill, New York (2022); Pure Joy, curated by Chella Man, at 1969 Gallery, 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, Los Angeles (2023). 
As a member of the collective Canaries, she participated in an exhibition at Cleopatra’s, Brooklyn (2014) and a residency at Recess, New York (2016).