Richard Allen in the '60s and '70s
9 April – 5 June
This exhibition charts the early career of
the artistic pioneer, Richard Allen. Work up to the late '70s will
be on display, allowing you to see firsthand how his art developed
and came into its own.
Born in 1933 to a Worcester farming family,
Allen attended Worcester Art School and arrived in 1957 at Bath
Academy of Art, based then at Corsham Court. Allen responded very
positively to the unconventional teachings methods of Clifford
Ellis, Principal of the Bath Academy, and his wife Rosemary, as
well as luminaries from the London art world such as Gillian Ayres
and Robyn Denny.
The influence of such artists as Howard
Hodgkin and Martin Froy encouraged Allen to develop an abstract
style. Whilst still at the Academy, he was recognised by his first
public commission – a large-scale mural for the Chippenham College
of Further Education.
On leaving Bath, Allen won a scholarship to
study the historic mosaics at Ravenna. Once in Italy however, he
took greater inspiration from the commercial mosaic studios of
Milan and its building-site hoardings covered in posters. Returning
to London, he married fellow Bath student Eve Laurens and began
teaching part-time alongside Bridget Riley and Allen Jones.
After experimenting with Pop Art and Op
Art, Allen's interest in abstraction led him naturally to joining
the Matrix Group whose focus was on systemic and geometric ways of
working. Allen gained an international reputation with solo
exhibitions in Europe, Japan and the USA. He lived in Jersey for 14
years before dying from Motor Neurone Disease in 1999.
Richard Allen with Chippenham mosaic 1961
Richard Allen, Untitled 1962, paper collage
Richard Allen, Symo 1966 screenprint
Richard Allen, Untitled 1966 acrylic