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Untitled

A work made of oil and acrylic on linen.

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  • A work made of oil and acrylic on linen.

Date:

2004

Artist:

Laura Owens
American, born 1970

About this artwork

Often tinged with an inventive sense of wonder and, at times, humor, Laura Owens’s idiosyncratic canvases quote from such diverse sources as modernist movements—Color Field painting, Op Art, and Pattern and Decoration—the work of artists like Henri Rousseau and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and textile art and embroidery. Utilizing a wide range of techniques and materials, the artist’s process includes a long preparation period; she explained, “Some people have commented that that it’s more of an old-fashioned way of working, through sketches and tests where I know about three-quarters of what the painting will look like, and then I make it.” This unapologetically theatrical work features costumed characters that look like they have stepped out of a production by the Bauhaus artist Oskar Schlemmer (1888–1943). Formally, the canvas resembles a sketchbook drawing, but the scale implies that it is instead a playful homage to Bauhaus theater design.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Contemporary Art

Artist

Laura Owens

Title

Untitled

Place

Los Angeles (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 2004

Medium

Oil and acrylic on linen

Dimensions

199.4 × 228 cm (78 1/2 × 89 3/4 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Nancy Lauter McDougal and Alfred L. McDougal

Reference Number

2005.473

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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