Richard Allen (abstract artist)
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Richard Allen (8 February 1933 – 9 February 1999) was a British Minimalist, Abstract,
Systems A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its environment, is described by its boundaries, structure and purpose and express ...
, Fundamental, and Geometric painter and printmaker. Allen worked prolifically from 1960 until his death, in 1999, from motor neurone disease. During the winter of 2016/2017 Tate Britain exhibited its Richard Allen work, ''Six Panel Systems Painting'' (1972), in a BP Spotlight display.


1960s Pop art, Op art and Kinetic Art

In the early 1960s he became involved In the
Op art Op art, short for optical art, is a style of visual art that uses optical illusions. Op artworks are abstract, with many better-known pieces created in black and white. Typically, they give the viewer the impression of movement, hidden images ...
and Kinetic art movements, exhibiting with Bridget Riley, Jeffrey Steele,
Michael Kidner Michael James Kidner (11 September 1917 – 2009) was a British op artist. Active from mid-1960s, Kidner was an early exponent of the genre. Through his interest in mathematics, he was part of the Constructivism (art), Constructivism moveme ...
and Peter Sedgley. A fascination with
interferometry Interferometry is a technique which uses the ''interference'' of superimposed waves to extract information. Interferometry typically uses electromagnetic waves and is an important investigative technique in the fields of astronomy, fiber opt ...
influenced his work at this time and enabled him to develop the linear element in the collage works into a form of optical painting. This work was done using fast acid dye on canvas and an acrylic resist line for the structure of the paintings. During this period Allen was also working on a series of black and white OP paintings in PVA and oil on board and graphic Op art works.


Early 1970s

In the early 1970s Allen was involved with Bridget Riley and Peter Sedgley's artist cooperative at the Match Shed in London. In 1970 his large two colour stripe acrylic Op art paintings on canvas were installed at the Match Shed in London
Images from Richard Allen's website
and he had a one-man show at Angela Flowers in 1971. In 1971 Allen became a member of the Matrix Group, organised by Malcolm Hughes. The group were involved in the idea of a systemic form of painting, that is, a recoverable system underlying its construction. Allen's work was included in the Matrix Exhibition at the
Arnolfini Gallery Arnolfini is an international arts centre and gallery in Bristol, England. It has a programme of contemporary art exhibitions, artist's performance, music and dance events, poetry and book readings, talks, lectures and cinema. There is also a ...
, Bristol in 1971. The group then evolved into the Systems group whose interests could be traced back to European Constructivism. In 1972 Allen was represented in the Arts Council's major exhibition of Systems Art, curated by Nicholas Serota, opening at the Whitechapel Gallery, London in 1972 and moving on to tour the UK. Allen's work became increasingly Minimalist and Fundamental. He stopped using colour (apart from in his graphic and geometric work) and began a period of 20 years working primarily with charcoal and cellulose acetate on canvas. Using iconic images; the cross and the grid. Allen described his work as being: "concerned with evolving and manifesting simple and direct images of a "concrete" nature. The process through which these images develop involves a rational approach to creativity with the use of systemic procedures where there is a relationship between the creative imagination and systems of order" Statement: Richard Allen 1976 By 1974 Allen had gained an international reputation with solo exhibitions in Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, France, Japan and the USA. As well as being included in "British painting '74" at the Hayward Gallery in London, "British Painting 1952-1977" at the
Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...
, London he was celebrated with a one-man show at The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA, London) in 1975. Describing his black and white Systems, and his charcoal and cellulose acid on canvas paintings/drawings of the mid 1970s art critic William Packer wrote: "These are very straight-forward works, simple, open and direct…..A simple grid articulates the surface, disposed with perfect regularity and achieving a structure that is utterly static and simplicity and regularity of these works is thus matched by other features which introduce the romantic, the poetic and the atmospheric, elements not usually associated in our minds with Systems work." William Packer, Galleria del Cavallino exhibition review, 1974 "Richard Allen is an artist who reveals his personal world by translating a harmonic disintegration and reintegration of images and thoughts on to canvas. His use of the abstract is mature. He is totally secure in his technique and has no doubts about it." Bill Kurria – art critic 1988


1990s – Minimalism and "The White Paintings"

Despite the name the works known as "the white paintings" have colour lying beneath the white which was applied within a strict linear structure. A range of different whites i.e. Flake, Zinc, Titanium etc. were used in combinations for their various modulatory abilities of colour bias and opacity. When talking about the execution of these works Allen explained: "The working method permits an interactive process whereby the opposing characteristics of a highly regulated structural format and a less predictable human physical element can creatively coexist." The white paintings were shown in the retrospective exhibition of his work at The University of Wales School of Art Gallery, Aberystwyth in 1998 and at a one-man show at Flowers East in 1999.


Graphic work and Geometric abstraction

Allen was also a talented printmaker. He consistently made graphics alongside his painting and drawing. These works included Silk Screen Op art graphics back in the 60s, the "Iconocross" series of black cross derived prints, brightly coloured silk screens and Geometric abstraction, and a small edition of "White Painting" Lithographs.


References


External links


Official site of the estate of Richard Allen

Offer Waterman
is the gallery representing the estate of Richard Allen.
Jenna Burlingham Gallery
another gallery with an interest in Richard Allen.
Richard Allen
in the Tate.
Richard Allen
in the Government Art Collection.
Richard Allen
in the British Council collection. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Richard 1933 births 1999 deaths 20th-century English painters English male painters Deaths from motor neuron disease Op art