Lauren Spencer King:
Measures of Desires
03.29.25 - 05.03.25
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12.26 is pleased to present Measures of Desire, a series of six new watercolor paintings by Los Angeles-based painter Lauren Spencer King.
King takes on her subjects as well as the medium of watercolor and pushes them beyond their defined limitations. In the artist’s new body of work she expands her ongoing series of flowers, and introduces a new subject: fabric. An explosion of white tulips with ruby red stripes, and vibrant irises with their fuzzy orange beards sit alongside an elaborate bodice sleeve made of slashed satin, as well as a crimson cascade of polka-dotted ruffles. By juxtaposing her paintings of flowers with paintings of portions of garments, King continues to deepen her investigation of pattern in space, blurring the formal boundaries of both subjects as petals appear to be ruffles, and patterned fabrics mimic the markings of a flower. In these allover compositions pattern delights the eye, becoming uncontrolled, and wild as it breaks free from the confines of the grid.
Flowers must stand out to attract insect pollination. What would it mean for color and pattern to be a means of survival instead of something frivolous?
In King’s painting time equals proximity. Washes of watercolor are masterfully harnessed in these intimately scaled paintings, each one taking months to paint. Many layers of transparent color are laid down slowly building sections of illuminated light, and dense areas of shadow and darkness. Her commitment to precise detail and close examination demands a slowing down, a prolonged looking. Although small in scale, these paintings heighten the senses with their intricate mark making and intensity of color. Though time is involved, it isn’t meditative time. There is nothing passive about this work. It is active and exuberant.
In her relentless pursuit to record every detail, King uncovers a new layer of understanding that goes beyond the image. It is precisely because of the acute articulation of detail in the paintings that the work calls into question what we think we know about the subject, and reveals how little we actually see when we engage in everyday looking.
Lauren Spencer King (b. 1980, Belleville, IL) lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. Lauren received her MFA in 2011 and her BFA in 2005 from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA. Recent exhibitions include 12.26, Los Angeles, CA (2023); Regards, Chicago, IL (2021 and 2016); Chris Sharp Gallery, Los Angeles CA (2022); Blum and Poe, Los Angeles, CA (2020); Big Pictures Los Angeles, CA (2019); Ochi Gallery, Ketchum, ID (2017); among others.
King takes on her subjects as well as the medium of watercolor and pushes them beyond their defined limitations. In the artist’s new body of work she expands her ongoing series of flowers, and introduces a new subject: fabric. An explosion of white tulips with ruby red stripes, and vibrant irises with their fuzzy orange beards sit alongside an elaborate bodice sleeve made of slashed satin, as well as a crimson cascade of polka-dotted ruffles. By juxtaposing her paintings of flowers with paintings of portions of garments, King continues to deepen her investigation of pattern in space, blurring the formal boundaries of both subjects as petals appear to be ruffles, and patterned fabrics mimic the markings of a flower. In these allover compositions pattern delights the eye, becoming uncontrolled, and wild as it breaks free from the confines of the grid.
Flowers must stand out to attract insect pollination. What would it mean for color and pattern to be a means of survival instead of something frivolous?
In King’s painting time equals proximity. Washes of watercolor are masterfully harnessed in these intimately scaled paintings, each one taking months to paint. Many layers of transparent color are laid down slowly building sections of illuminated light, and dense areas of shadow and darkness. Her commitment to precise detail and close examination demands a slowing down, a prolonged looking. Although small in scale, these paintings heighten the senses with their intricate mark making and intensity of color. Though time is involved, it isn’t meditative time. There is nothing passive about this work. It is active and exuberant.
In her relentless pursuit to record every detail, King uncovers a new layer of understanding that goes beyond the image. It is precisely because of the acute articulation of detail in the paintings that the work calls into question what we think we know about the subject, and reveals how little we actually see when we engage in everyday looking.
Lauren Spencer King (b. 1980, Belleville, IL) lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. Lauren received her MFA in 2011 and her BFA in 2005 from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA. Recent exhibitions include 12.26, Los Angeles, CA (2023); Regards, Chicago, IL (2021 and 2016); Chris Sharp Gallery, Los Angeles CA (2022); Blum and Poe, Los Angeles, CA (2020); Big Pictures Los Angeles, CA (2019); Ochi Gallery, Ketchum, ID (2017); among others.