Terry Allen: Early Bronzes and Sketchbook Studies

Holly Johnson Gallery in Dallas is pleased to announce the opening of Early Bronzes and Sketchbook Studies, a selection of bronze sculpture and related sketchbook studies by Terry Allen, a multidisciplinary artist in the truest sense of the term. A reception for the artist and a book signing will be held on Friday, June 17th, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. The exhibition continues through July 16.

Terry Allen is an exceptionally gifted artist whose original voice expresses complex ideas. His legendary story-telling ability is the key to his creative productivity, and the underlying narratives give form to drawn images in the series of sketchbook studies and the cast bronze sculptures on exhibit. He embraces theoretical conceptualism on the one hand and popular vernacular on the other. Described by L.A. Times art critic David Pagel as a "multitalented master of multitasking," Allen stretches traditional definitions of the creative process, expanding our understanding of what it means to be an artist and what form art can take.

Allen was born in Wichita, Kansas, in 1943 and was subsequently raised in Lubbock, Texas. Influenced by country western music and rock and roll, Allen knew from an early age that he wanted to work in the arts and in the mid-sixties traveled to Los Angeles to study at Chouinard Art Institute where he earned his BFA in 1966. He then developed a storyline and cast of characters that morphed into a major body of visual art including musical and theatrical performances, sculpture, painting, drawing, video, and installations.

His work is in major corporate collections throughout the United States such as AT&T in Chicago, Atlantic Richfield Company and Sony Pictures in Los Angeles, Chase Manhattan Bank in New York, Frito-Lay in Plano, City of Houston’s, George Bush International Airport, and the City of Denver’s International Airport. He has won numerous prestigious awards such as National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships, an Award in the Visual Arts, a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, and induction into Lubbock’s Buddy Holly Walk of Fame. Selected museum collections include the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Detroit Institute of Arts, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Dallas Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Since 1987 Allen has resided in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with his wife Jo Harvey, a well-known actress and author.

The University of Texas Press in Austin has released the much anticipated book, Terry Allen: Dugout, about his multi-media exhibition ten years in the making. Dugout is based loosely on Allen's parents, exploring the deepening complexity of their lives both musically and visually. Presented in literary form the book includes essays by David Byrne, cofounder of the Talking Heads; Dave Hickey, art critic and recipient of a MacArthur Foundation grant; Dana Friis-Hansen, Director of the Austin Museum of Art; and Terrie Sultan, Director of the University of Houston’s Blaffer Gallery where the exhibition is on view through June 11. The book will be available for sale at the gallery and includes a CD of a live performance.