Andrew Berardini reviews the exhibition Laura Owens: 12 Paintings at 356 S. Mission Road, Los Angeles, on view through June 30, 2013.

Bernardini writes that Owens is "exploring with humor and skill the possibilities of paintings. It doesn't wholly make sense just to isolate a single work — these feel entirely intended to be seen and felt together as a single exhibition. (They're all untitled). To peel one off the pack is to miss the point. In one painting there's a childish clipper ship, each sail with its own pattern, hanging next to a multilayered abstraction of intersecting grids over a lavender wash, then top-layered with big beautiful swirls of a pale violet painted like idle doodles. Adulterated with other vibrant hues, the huge licks of pink and mint paint curling across the surface resemble more a Photoshop paint tool than an actual brush. These two paintings and all the ones around them are held together by recurring phrases, a distinct palette, and a formal style (in writing it's called a voice) that brings all the seemingly disparate elements into a satisfying whole."

(Ed. note: link via Modern Art Notes great Weekend Roundup)