Locks Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition of Elizabeth Osborne's abstract landscape paintings and works on paper. This exhibition spans forty years of compositional exploration, with references to mountains, islands, and natural formations. Featuring works that explore the materiality of unprimed canvas, paper, and the quality of light further highlights the artist's lifelong devotion to her medium.
Osborne’s work has been described as "living landscapes that integrate complex methods of seeing and representing nature." Employing tightly controlled pours of thinned paint on unprimed canvas to create a staining technique became a vital breakthrough for the artist in the 1970s. Aware of pioneering painters such as Helen Frankenthaler and Morris Louis, Osborne was initially interested in capturing the light and transparency of her watercolors with intent to translate those qualities onto canvas. Indeed, Osborne first saw Frankenthaler's legendary Mountain and Sea (1952), the first of Frankthaler's to use the new celebrated soak-stain technique conjoining abstraction with the evocation of landscape. Artist Morris Louis declared that Frankenthaler "...was a bridge between Pollock and what was possible."
Osborne has frequently painted outdoors and most often with watercolor—some of her beloved locations are Manchester by the Sea, coastal Maine and the southwest. At different points of her long career, the artist has chosen to work exclusively in watercolor for a period of time both in the studio and en plein air. The resulting still lives and landscapes have become defining images for the artist as they translate to large canvas works.
This exhibition can be viewed online or by appointment only.
