 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
FRANK OWEN
Frank Owen, Between the Seasons III, acrylic on canvas, 84 x 60 inches, 2002
He received his B.A. and his M.A. from the University of California at Davis.
He was twice awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in 1978-79 and in 1989-90, as well at the University of California Regents Fellowship in 1967-68.
During the '70s and '80s, Owen was an abstract painter living in New York, pushing the boundaries and definition of abstract painting, utilizing color at its most saturated along with the technique he developed for pouring paint to build a skin of pigment on the canvas.
Over a decade ago, the artist moved to the Adirondaks, his work took a turn from "paint pouring" toward building a skin of paint, including passages of bas relief. He moved from variegated strata of color toward work in black and white, incorporating the riches around him, i.e., nature became his main source and resource.
In Owen's 1993 exhibition, many of the paintings explored nature in its infinitely changeable ways, including rocks made of paint protruding from the surface and bas relief ropes--all pure pigment.
In his recent works, nature remains the dominant theme with leitmotifs of technology and man's penetration of the natural environment juxtaposed with Owen's love of line--swinging and swaying across the canvas surface--and gestures of the hand, such as energetic abstract swipes and swirls.
We see the artist's signature skin of paint on canvas, images embedded between layers of paint--in a process akin to silk-screen as well as lively passages of bas relief, Owen's own topographical surface.
In addition to creating his own system of "painting," a technique of working "in verso," Owen has also created his own vocabulary of images which punctuate the abstract field of his paintings: sticks, stones, ropes, leaves floating through space, sometimes appearing to be under the surface of a pond or stream. While not literally rendered, the viewer senses the presence of water--a pond, a stream, a leaf-filled bog, a run-off of mountain snow.
Over the last four years Owen has allowed color to gracefully re-enter the paintings focusing on colors from nature--gold of sunsets, brown of earth, red of autumnal splendor.
FRANK OWEN's Biography
Frank Owen, UNTITLED, 1998,
acrylic on canvas, 45 x 45 inches
Frank Owen, LATTICE, 1999,
acrylic on canvas, 63 x 45 inches
Frank Owen, CORONA/CARONE, 1999,
acrylic on canvas, 84 x 92 inches
Frank Owen, WIRE TRANSFER III, 1999,
acrylic on canvas, 45 x 34 inches
Frank Owen, WIRE TRANSFER IV,
acrylic on canvas, 45 x 34 inches
Frank Owem, SCAPA, 1973, acrylic on canvas, 102 x 216 inches
