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PAST EXHIBITIONS
New Work by James Allen:
War Story: Nuns & Guns
The Elder Series
October 27, 2002 - January 5, 2003
| James Allen’s paintings have consistently dealt with situations and imagery rooted in familiar cultural values and fascinations. More specifically, he is interested in “the unexpected meanings and implications of these highly-charged situations, trying to imbue the images with a corrupted condition of realism.” This corruption is suggested by deliberate interruptions of surface rendering, color and texture – the imposition of markings that invoke corrosion and deterioration. In Allen’s work, color itself is often heightened to underscore a shift toward possible ritual or iconic connections. He asserts that “that which should seem familiar, perhaps even ubiquitous, somehow is not. Images struggle to ‘reach us,’ after having survived use and re-use in other contexts, by other minds.” The exhibition “New Work by James Allen” – October 27, 2002 through January 5, 2003 – will feature the products of the artist’s current sabbatical from his teaching post at Daemen College. He is currently at work on a large cut-out figure painting depicting soldiers and sisters – or, as he whimsically refers to them, “nuns and guns.” |
War Story: Nuns & Guns (detail), acrylic on cut canvas, 2002. Collection of the artist. |
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