Laurel Hausler. Photo credit: Tory Pugliese
The ghosts of the past are always with us, brushing past in layers of time, like veils in a dance being pulled away. They haunt us with both pain and humor, and to reveal their presence takes honesty and sensitivity as an artist. Not to mention, a bit of detective work.
Every so often an artist’s work hits me with a visceral force, and I knew when I saw a few pieces by Laurel Hausler at the Small Works on Paper exhibit at Morton Fine Art that I needed to see more. Luckily, you can too. Hausler has a full exhibit at MFA showing now through October 14, and I highly recommend a visit to view these wickedly beautiful oil paintings. Heavily layered both by paint and meaning, alternately revealing and concealing, the exhibit is titled Debutantes & Feral Children.
Aren’t we all a bit of both?
Hausler, a native of the DC area now based here as well, paints with a subtractive process – in other words, she begins by covering canvas or paper with many layers of paint which she then removes to reveal the subject. Actually, she first begins with research. Let’s take a closer look.
'Debs', oil on canvas, 36"x24", Laurel Hausler
Debutantes & Feral Children focuses on the juxaposition of the golden age of the debutante with its fascination with feral children. I spent a sunny afternoon speaking with Hausler about how the paintings came to life. She’s obviously an artist of great emotional sensitivity coupled with a relish for research. Her work is strongly rooted in a literary background that’s almost gothic in its sensibility, without being humorless.
This particular exhibit began with her poring over old magazines with their images of World War II era debutantes. At the time, debs were celebrity culture, hawking cold cream and soaps in the ad pages of Life. Hausler was intrigued by the co-existence of the debutante images and the graphic depictions of war on the same pages. Looking at the paintings that resulted, you can see her holding up the mirror of glamour to physical and psychological horror.
'Feral Child and a Friend', oil on canvas, 30"x30", Laurel Hausler
Though Hausler may start with a specific idea or image in mind, once she begins painting the subject develops a life of its own. Those emerging changes are evident in the lines and scratches that permeate her work, giving a seductive tactile quality to the paintings. I’m reminded of this when she describes her series on recovered Indian captives – returned to their former lives as Western women, many carried the marks of their Indian lives tattoed on their skin. Never fully of either world again, their experiences were physically visible yet psychologically hidden.
In several paintings there’s a sense of something just out of reach, moving beneath the surface. It’s this quality that entranced me, as with my personal exhibit favorite, Company of Men.
'Company of Men', oil on canvas, 36"x36", Laurel Hausler
These truly are paintings I want to dip my hands into, searching for what else lies hidden under the surface. It’s visual archaeology, and I’m eager to see more. I hope you are as well.
Laurel Hausler’s ‘Debutantes & Feral Children’ exhibit runs thru October 14 at Morton Fine Art. Morton Fine Art is located at 1781 Florida Avenue NW. Closest Metro stop: Dupont Circle (Red line). For more information call (202) 390-5118.
As one of the founding editors of We Love DC, Jenn’s passions are theater and cocktails. After two decades in the city, she’s loved every quirky, mundane, elegant, rude minute of her DC life. A proud advocate for DC’s talented drinks scene, she’s judged the Corcoran Gallery of Art’s ARTINI contest, the DC Rickey Month contest, the Jefferson Hotel’s Quill Cocktail competition, and is a founding member of LUPEC DC. A graduate of Catholic University’s drama program, she toured the country as a member of National Players, and has been both an actor and a costume designer before jumping the aisle to theater criticism. Writing for We Love DC restored her happiness after a life-threatening illness, and she’s grateful to you, dear readers. Send your suggestions to jenn (at) welovedc (dot) com and follow her on Twitter.
The whole “épater le bourgeois” thing is so deadly dreary dull and tired and beaten to death and over. It began in the 19th century!
It’s not hip, it’s not “challenging”, it doesn’t “spark conversation”, regardless of the contrived rationalizations for it.
Producing deliberate, calculated ugliness just makes for an uglier, worse world. What a waste of resources, of the precious and irretrievable gift of life.
So much of the art world is a giant game of the Emperor who had no clothes. Everyone pretends to “get it”, to “appreciate” the repulsive and empty. The only thread tying it all together is a calculated and cultivated desire to be seen as being of superior discernment to decent ordinary people. Which means that everyone must pretend that the meaningless is meaningful, the ugly is beautiful.
They don’t realize their folly. And no one will be the little child in the crowd who calls out the obvious: “but these paintings / sculptures / whatnot are disgusting and stupid!”
Aurora, I can’t quite determine whether you are reacting to Hausler’s work itself, or to my critique of it, or just to modern art in general? Have you seen the exhibit? Because as you know there’s a difference between standing in front of a work and seeing a flat image of it on a screen. So I would urge you to go in person if you haven’t. Amy Morton at MFA is wonderful and I’m sure would engage in meaningful and productive dialogue about art.
I really don’t think this is a case of “epater le bourgeoisie” – but if you are actually arguing that the age of a philosophy determines its relevance, I believe you have just definitively lost your previous pantyhose argument. ;)
But, it’s extremely difficult to persuade anyone to change their minds about art once they’ve had a visceral reaction as we two apparently have – we disagree.
I genuinely find beauty in Hausler’s work.
Thanks for your civil response. How funny that you remember me and that back-and-forth about pantyhose :)
I reacted the the paintings, and by extension much of modern art in general. Your critique, while informative of the back story of the paintings and your reaction to it, wasn’t what I was reacting to, at least not consciously.
I don’t believe that the age of a philosophy necessarily determines its relevance or truth, but I think those who use art to showcase their hipness rather than seek beauty seem to think so, at least more often than others. Thus my point that the “shock the benighted masses” paradigm of so much of contemporary art is not nearly as fresh as those who immerse themselves in it imagine, and by their own standards, if not mine, it should be dropped.
As for seeing these paintings up close, thanks anyway. I doubt I’ll suddenly see how lovely they are up close and personal.
Pingback: Tweets that mention We Love Arts: Laurel Hausler » We Love DC -- Topsy.com