{"data":{"id":"4834","type":"artist","attributes":{"id":4834,"topgoose_id":1215,"tms_id":4834,"display_name":"Laura Owens","sort_name":"Owens Laura","display_date":"1970–","begin_date":"1970","end_date":"1970","biography":"\u003cp\u003eSince she began painting in the early\n1990s, Laura Owens has had a profound\ninterest in texture and unconventional\nsubject matter. Working with found objects,\nimages, and advertisements, she frequently\nincorporates figurative elements into\notherwise abstract compositions, pushing\nthe boundaries of gesture, surface, and\nlayering. Such efforts often lead her to\nexperiment with “unfamiliar formats” as seen\nin her recent use of digital processes.\nOwens has said of her expansive approach:\n“Painting \u003cem\u003edoes things\u003c/em\u003e, and why wouldn’t\nyou use all the things it does?”\n\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"/collection/works/44569\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eUntitled\u003c/em\u003e \u003c/a\u003efeatures digitally manipulated\nelements borrowed from a 1970s inspirational\nposter—including cartoonlike images of a\nboy and a dog along with the phrase: “When\nyou come to the end of your rope, make\na knot, and hang on.” Superimposed on the\ncanvas and extending beyond its perimeter\nis a wood lattice that appears in fragments,\nas if partially erased. Installed on the\nwall behind the painting are a book and\nthree additional, smaller paintings.\u003cem\u003e\u0026nbsp;Untitled\n\u003c/em\u003ecan be shown as it is here with four of\nthe works concealed or all five elements\ncan be presented individually to form\na small exhibition. By incorporating hidden\nelements that are integral to the work,\nOwens confounds what she calls the “idea\nof painting within a painting that runs\nthroughout the history of art.”\u003c/p\u003e","on_view":false,"artport":false,"biennial":true,"collection":true,"ulan_id":null,"wikidata_id":null,"created_at":"2017-08-30T16:12:49.000-04:00","updated_at":"2026-01-28T18:09:24.462-05:00","links":{"artworks":"/api/artists/4834/artworks","exhibitions":"/api/artists/4834/exhibitions"}}}}