Lawler developed her individual style during the early 1980s, a time of intense growth in the overall economy and in the art market. In 1981 Lawler had her first West Coast gallery solo exhibition at Jancar Kuhlenschmidt Gallery in Los Angeles. In 1982, for her first solo exhibition at Metro Pictures, Lawler showed a small suite of artworks pulled from the gallery’s stockroom. The pieces were to be sold together, as a single work called "Arranged by Louise Lawler", and it was priced at the literal sum of its parts, plus an extra 10 percent commission for Lawler; the piece did not sell.