Tom Owen

Tom Owen is based in Newport, KY. His work has been exhibited for the last twenty years in several US cities including New York, Miami, Santa Fe, Cincinnati, Richmond, and in the San Francisco Bay Area; it has been featured in several publications as well. His work is in both private and corporate collections across the US.

After a 2017 studio visit, Raphaela Platow, Executive Director of Louisville, Kentucky’s Speed Art Museum commented, “I love that Tom is not afraid to embrace and use color; his paintings are so hopeful.” While primarily self-taught, Tom holds a B.S. in English literature and a M.A. in psychology, both of which inform his art making.

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My work has evolved over time, moving from organic shapes that floated on the canvas to more brightly colored minimalistic, geometric shapes and forms that fill the entire space and substrate. The work is highly abstracted and distilled down to minimalist forms. Subtle texture and layering mirror my own psychological experiences of the subject. My media has evolved too; moving from acrylic to flashe, a highly pigmented, water-based paint that I apply using squeegees and a variety of straight edges, that I use to pull and scrape large forms onto cradled wood panels or stretched canvases. Within these forms is a subtle interplay of color and movement, inviting the viewer to look closer. As Santa Fe-based curator Jen Tough noted, “Tom’s paintings have this very subtle and warm interplay of color that really draws you in. It is a characteristic of his work that makes it so interesting and accessible. It really stands out in its boldness, simplicity, and how different it is from the typical minimalistic genre.”

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