JUSTIN ALLEN
b. 1976, Jefferson City, Missouri.
2007 MFA Hunter College, New York
2006 Arts Student League of New York - Life Study
1999 BA Webster University, St. Louis, MO
SELECTED WORKS
2012-2013 oil on panel 5 11/16 x 10 5/16 in (14.4 x 26.2 cm)
Some Squirrels of That Generation Would Never Taste of Death 2012-2013 oil on panel 7 5/8 x 9 1/16 in (19.4 x 23.0 cm)
Grandad Chair, Great Aunt Color Theory 2006-2007 oil on linen mounted on panel 20 x 16 in (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
2009 oil on panel 9 1/8 x 8 in (23.2 x 20.3 cm)
BIOGRAPHY
Justin Allen's paintings acknowledge and unravel otherwise commonplace objects by isolating and rendering them in fine detail. He implements Old Master painting techniques that require multiple layers of drawing and color, resulting in works that can take up to two years to complete. While Allen is not attempting to achieve photorealism, he invests close attention to the lining of the objects and to the shadows and planes so that the ordinary objects are contemplated instead of overlooked. Working in a small scale format, Allen's paintings are dense with conceptua meaning and subtle tension that invites the viewer to closely examine his pieces with a heightened sense of the personal.
Justin Allen received his B.A. from Webster University in St. Louis in 1999, and his M.F.A. from Hunter College in 2007. Robert Miller Gallery has featured Allen in a one-person booth in the NEXT Fair during Art Chicago in 2008, as well as exhibited Allen’s work at the gallery in 2009, 2010, and 2013. A Pollock-Krasner 2012 award winner, Allen has exhibited at the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art in Peekskill, NY; J. Johnson Gallery in Jacksonville, FL; the Knoxville Museum of Art in Tennessee; the Eleven Gallery in London; the Sam Lee Gallery in Los Angeles; and at Scheubbe Projects in Dusseldorf Germany.
SELECTED PRESS
2010-2011 Arbus Magazine, December-January 2010/1, Volume 16, Page 72, Wesley Grissom, Small Spaces.
2010 Freiman, Lauren Sable. 'Small Scale Big Talent', Jefferson City Magazine, November-December 2010, Page 76.
'Justin Allen: Turquoise Afternoon', Artcat.com, 2010
Fitzgerald, Carol Ann (Art Editor), Oxford American, No 68, Page 87.
2009 'Justin Allen & Alex Katz', Artnews.com, 2009
2008 Mason, Doug. 'Exhibit Showcases Extra-small Powerful Works of Art', Knoxville News, March 23, 2008.
2007 Gouveia, Georgette. 'Why Size Matters in New Art Exhibits', The Journal News, September 14, 2007.
Gouveia, Georgett. 'Modern Muses',The Journal News, April 5, 2007.
Spaeth, Catherine. 'Giving New Artists a Place to be Noticed', New York Times, February 25, 2007.
2005 Kostobi, Mark. Artnet.com, Ask Mark Kostobi, Spring 2005.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2010 - present
2010 - present
Solo and Joint Exhibitions
2010-11
2010
2009
2008
Small Spaces: The Paintings of Justin Allen and Joan Nelson, J. Johnson Gallery, Jacksonville FL., November 12-January 28, 2010/11
Justin Allen Turquoise Afternoon, Robert Miller Gallery, New York, NY, May 12-June 12, 2010
Justin Allen and Roland Hicks, Eleven Fine Art, London England, June 2010
Justin Allen Weekly Summer Showcase, Robert Miller Gallery, New York, NY, September 2009.
Basement Afterlife, MFA Thesis Show, Hunter Times Square Gallery, December 2008
The Next: Invitational Exhibit of Emerging Art, Chicago, IL April 2008, Featured artist of Robert Miller Gallery, NY
Group Exhibitions
2013
2010
2009
2008
2007-08
2007
5 Rooms, Robert Miller Gallery, New York, June 13 - August 3, 2013.
in.flec.tion, Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, Peekskill NY, Spring 2010.
Christmas Salon, Elevin Fine Art, London England, December 2009.
Small Works, Robert Miller Gallery, New York, August 2009.
All Too Human, Young American Painters, Schuebbe Projects,Dusseldorf Germany, January 30th-March 2009.
HVCCA Benefit Auction, at Yvon Lambert Gallery, New York, NY October 2008.
Size Matters, Recent Small Scale Paintings, Hudson Valley Center of Contemporary Art, Peekskill NY, Summer 2007. [itinerary: Knoxville Museum of Art (March - August 2008); 'The Grass is Greener on the Other Side', Leo Fortuna Gallery, Hudson NY (Summer 2007).
Basement Afterlife, MFA Thesis show, Hunter College December 2007.
First Look II, Hudson Valley Center of Contemporary Art, Peekskill NY, a survey selection of 16 MFA students from over 800 studios, February 2007.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Hudson, NY: Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art.
2008 New American Paintings, Juried exhibition-in-print, Northeast edition, Vol. 74, Curated by William
Stover, Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.