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Ruth OwensSee Me Slopeside2021
2021
About the Item
ARTIST STATEMENT
RUTH OWENS graduated in 2018 with an MFA from the University of New Orleans after leaving her medical practice of 25 years. She is represented by Jonathan Ferrara Gallery, and belongs to the artist collectives: A.I.R. Gallery in Brooklyn and “The Front” in New Orleans.
Artist residencies include the Addison Gallery of American Art in Andover, MA in 2019, the Vermont Studio Center in 2018, the Studios at MASS MoCA in 2021, and The Joan Mitchell Center 9/20 until 2/21. Her work is in the permanent collection of the Addison Gallery of American Art and the New Orleans Museum of Art. Notable solo shows include “Good Family,” 2019, The Front Gallery; “Identity Theft,” 2018, Jonathan Ferrara Gallery; “Baby Love,” 2018, University of New Orleans Gallery; “Conspiracies,” 2017, Barrister’s Gallery, New Orleans; and “Stepin’ Out,” 2016, Xavier University Chapel Gallery, New Orleans. Ruth has participated in group exhibitions at the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Contemporary Art Center of New Orleans, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, the Addison Gallery of American Art, and the New Orleans Film Festival, 2019.
The artist says of her work...
“Debbie Do Dallas” read the handwritten label on a plain black VCR tape tucked in amongst my father’s collection of westerns and adventure movies. Viewing those words as a teenager caused me untold anguish, equally because of the grammatical failure to make subject and verb agree, as the thought of my father watching sexually explicit content. This intersection of personal familial relationships, and the cultural context that leads to inequality of resources, such as access to educational opportunities between those of African and European descent, is what underlies the impetus for my work.
Straddling the divide between Teutonic and African ancestries, my concerns are more relevant than ever in our current polarized political milieu, and I attempt to tell my story from an intensely personal viewpoint. An approach to art making that includes both the very personal familial history and the interaction of that family with dominant cultural forces defines the crux of my work. It is with merciless candor that I bring untold family secrets, infidelities, addiction, and mental illness to the fore. Each painting is rooted in a pivotal memory from childhood and represents a psychologically intense moment of personal influence, set in a culture of racial divide.
Negotiating psychological and cultural tensions is my driving force, and my communicative tools lie in a very expressive and organic method of painting. The surfaces are scratched, left bare, glopped on, and dripped on for a mood consistent with the emotive content of the image. The surface not only becomes a metaphor for the vulnerability of our physical bodies, but it further represents an attempt to embrace a fluidity of racial identity in order to subvert the prescribed identity dictated by our dominant culture. A Gerhardt Richter-like scrape of facial features denies placement of a figure within the confines of a preordained racial construct.
Although we were not wealthy, my parents purchased a super-eight camera to record the now requisite footage of our childhood birthday parties and backyard antics in the 1960s and 1970s. This footage has proved to be an extremely valuable resource in mining my psychological past, and clips from these films have served as reference images for my paintings. However, instead of faithfully copying the images in a straightforward representational manner, I have attempted to heighten the emotional and visual impact by use of collage, color alterations, and compositional changes.
- Creator:Ruth Owens (1959, American, German)
- Creation Year:2021
- Dimensions:Height: 13 in (33.02 cm)Width: 13 in (33.02 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Framing:Framing Options Available
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:New Orleans, LA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU10528971592
Ruth Owens
Ruth Owens was born to a young German woman and a Black serviceman from Georgia. The nomadic military lifestyle of her childhood was complicated by restrictions to mixed families in many communities and laid the basis for the formation of her cultural identity. She will graduate with a Masters of Fine Arts from the University of New Orleans after quitting her medical practice of over 25 years. She will continue her artistic pursuits showing with Jonathan Ferrara Gallery of New Orleans, and participating in an artist collective called The Front located in that city’s St. Claude art corridor. Further, the well-respected Vermont Studio Center awarded Ruth an artist residency, which she will attend in July 2018. Notable solo shows include “Baby Love” in 2018 at the University of New Orleans Gallery, “Conspiracies” in 2017 at Barrister’s Gallery in New Orleans, and “Steppin' Out” at Bellarmine Chapel Gallery in 2016. Ruth Owens has also participated in numerous group shows including the “Currents, 2018,” at A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, New York, “Honey Trap,” at The Front Gallery, New Orleans, LA, “Image and Text” 2017, at Site: Brooklyn Gallery, Brooklyn, New York, “LA Contemporary, 2015” at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, “Contemporary Artists Respond to the New Orleans Baby Dolls,” 2015, at the McKenna Museum of African American Art, “Imago Mundi: New Orleans: Repatriation,” Prospect.3 Adjunct at the New Orleans Museum of Art, “True Colors,” 2014, at the Ashé Cultural Arts Center, and “NOLA NOW: The Human Figure,” 2012 at the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans.
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By Ruth Owens
Located in New Orleans, LA
Framed Dimensions: 11.25h x 10w in
RUTH OWENS graduated in 2018 with an MFA from the University of New Orleans after leaving her medical practice of 25 years. She is represented by the Jonathan Ferrara Gallery, and belongs to the artist collective, “The Front,” both in New Orleans. Owens’ work is concerned with contributing to and preserving the black archive, and she uses personal super-8 film references in her painting and video art. Artist residencies include the Joan Mitchell Center, the Addison Gallery of American Art, the Vermont Studio Center, and the Studios at MASS MoCA. She is slotted to attend the International Studio and Curatorial Program in NY in 2023. Her work is in the permanent collections of the Ackland Art Museum at UNC-Chapel Hill, the Addison Gallery of American Art, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, the Dale Center for the Study of War and Society, and 21c Museum.
The artist says of her work…
In the sixties, my father was stationed at a military base in the deep South...
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21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Paintings
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By Ruth Owens
Located in New Orleans, LA
Framed Dimensions: 13h x 9.50w in
RUTH OWENS graduated in 2018 with an MFA from the University of New Orleans after leaving her medical practice of 25 years. She is represented by t...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Paintings
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Located in New Orleans, LA
RUTH OWENS graduated in 2018 with an MFA from the University of New Orleans after leaving her medical practice of 25 years. She is represented by the Jonathan Ferrara Gallery, and belongs to the artist collective, “The Front,” both in New Orleans. Owens’ work is concerned with contributing to and preserving the black archive, and she uses personal super-8 film references in her painting and video art. Artist residencies include the Joan Mitchell Center, the Addison Gallery of American Art, the Vermont Studio Center, and the Studios at MASS MoCA. She is slotted to attend the International Studio and Curatorial Program in NY in 2023. Her work is in the permanent collections of the Ackland Art Museum at UNC-Chapel Hill, the Addison Gallery of American Art, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, the Dale Center for the Study of War and Society, and 21c Museum.
The artist says of her work…
In the sixties, my father was stationed at a military base in the deep South for several years. Although it was prescribed by law, our mixed race...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Paintings
Materials
Paper, Casein, Ink
Adieu, Gaugin, study
By Ruth Owens
Located in New Orleans, LA
Framed Dimensions: 16.25h x 11w in
RUTH OWENS graduated in 2018 with an MFA from the University of New Orleans after leaving her medical practice of 25 years. She is represented by ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Paintings
Materials
Paper, Casein
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By Ruth Owens
Located in New Orleans, LA
Framed Dimensions: 13h x 10.25w in
RUTH OWENS graduated in 2018 with an MFA from the University of New Orleans after leaving her medical practice of 25 years. She is represented by ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Paintings
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"See Me, Countryside, study II" -- Painting on paper by Ruth Owens
By Ruth Owens
Located in New Orleans, LA
Framed dimensions: 15h in x 12.5w in
RUTH OWENS graduated in 2018 with an MFA from the University of New Orleans after leaving her medical practice of 25 years. She is represented ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Paintings
Materials
Paper, Casein, Pencil
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