Laura OwEns
Fabric Workshop and Museum
1315 Cherry St.
Mon-Fri, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sat, 12 p.m. - 4 p.m., through Nov. 6, $5
(215) 568-1111
www.fabricworkshopandmuseum.org
Laura Owens has always had real control over her paint-handling: illusionist leaves in one brushstroke, washy horses reminiscent of fantastical watercolors. She has always been a master of surface. And her imagery is irresistibly cute -- her way with color might never have been the most refined, but in the past it has been forgivable.
Laura Owens' new exhibit is a departure from this aesthetic. These tapestries are essentially flatter versions of her other paintings, taking away all the surface alchemy. Moreover, the former range of symbols, almost enchantingly arbitrary and awkwardly broad, has been cheapened to a mere tree before clouds. Eight versions of the same tapestry (there was no remarkable difference between them) reveals a desire to make money and to make something out of nothing. And so it is revealed that these, same as her former paintings, have been nothing more than an effort to artify this pseudo-oriental, cartoony nature imagery.
Reviewers always speak of her "personal iconography," but when asked why she painted trees, she stared blankly at the ground for a few minutes only to lift her head and say, "I'm not really sure why I paint trees, as opposed to rocks or flowers or anything else. I'll have to give that some thought."
In the end, Laura Owens is just a big little girl who never got over Lisa Frank stickers.
