Allen Installation View May 2017

Installation View | May 2017

Allen Installation View May 2017

Installation View | May 2017

Allen Installation View May 2017

Installation View | May 2017

Allen Installation View May 2017

Installation View | May 2017

Allen Installation View May 2017

Installation View | May 2017

Allen Installation View May 2017

Installation View | May 2017

Allen Installation View May 2017

Installation View | May 2017

Allen Installation View May 2017

Installation View | May 2017

Allen Installation View May 2017

Installation View | May 2017

Allen - A Secret Voyage

A Secret Voyage

2017

book excavation

10.75 x 9.75 x 1 inches

Allen - Key Plants

Key Plants

2017

book excavation

9.25 x 6 x .5 inches

Allen - Ladd and Co

Ladd & Co

2017

book excavation

9.25 x 6.5 x 1.5 inches

Allen - May 1914

May 1914

2017

book excavation

21.25 x 37.25 x 2 inches

Allen - May 1914

May 1914

2017

book excavation

21.25 x 37.25 x 2 inches

Allen - Man from 1914

Man from 1914

2017

collage on paper

16.5 x 14.5 inches

Allen - Another Man from 1914

Another Man from 1914

2017

collage on paper

22 x 16 inches

Allen - Women from 1914

Women from 1914

2017

collage on paper

22 x 23 inches

Allen - The Weaving of a Web FRONT

The Weaving of a Web (view 1)

2017

book excavation

7 x 4.25 x 1.25 inches

Waiting for title  - view 2

Allen - The Weaving of a Web BACK

The Weaving of a Web (view 2)

2017

book excavation

7 x 4.25 x 1.25 inches

Allen - Oregon Faces

Oregon Faces

2017

collage on paper

19 x 16 inches

Allen - Yes You Too

Yes You Too!

2017

collage on paper

13 x 16 inches

Allen - Sunday Comics

Sunday Comics

2016

book excavation

14.25 x 10.25 x 1.5 inches

Allen - Sunday Comics detail

Sunday Comics (DETAIL)

2016

book excavation

14.25 x 10.25 x 1.5 inches

Allen - Portland Trolley Years

Portland Trolley Years

2016

book excavation

11.25 x 18.25 x .75 inches

Allen - Art Consequences

Art Consequences

2016

book excavation

9.25 x 6.25 x 1.25 inches

Allen - Puget Sound

Puget Sound

2016

book excavation

11 x 8.5 x .5 inches

Allen - Acteon

Acteon, Africa, Atlas

2016

altered book

10 x 10 x 2 inches

Allen - Bergamo

Beads, Bergamo, Bicycle

2016

altered book

10 x 10 x 2 inches

Allen - Copenhagen

Copenhagen, Crown, Crater Lake

2017

altered book

10 x 10 x 2 inches

Press Release

In Northwest Bound, James Allen continues his focus on the excavations of books, this time with a Pacific Northwest theme. The anchor for the show is a large altered set of bound Oregon Journal newspapers from May 1914. These new works, like the original newspaper, trace cultural, political and natural shifts in our region. It is so far the largest work the artist has created. Allen will also present a series of collages he created from the leftover scraps. 

James Allen was born in 1977 in Illinois. He earned a BFA from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2000. Currently, he lives and works in Portland, Oregon. Allen's artwork is included in Art Made From Books: Altered, Sculpted, Carved, Transformed published by Chronicle books. His work was exhibited at the Bellevue Arts Museum in The Book Borrowers: Contemporary Artists Transforming the Book in 2009. His Book Excavations can be found in Public collections at UCLA, Johns Hopkins University, Ringling College of Art and Design, University of Puget Sound, University of Colorado Boulder, Baylor University, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He's also exhibited across the country in New York, Seattle, Chicago, Milwaukee, Portland, Miami, and San Francisco.