ALLEN JONES

ALLEN JONES - Biography

ALLEN JONES. - ENGLISH PAINTER AND SCULPTOR (N. SOUTHAMPTON 1937). HE STUDIED AT THE HORNSEY COLLEGE OF ART (1958-59) AND THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART (1959-60) AND STAYED LONG IN AMERICA. IT IS PART OF THE “NEW GENERATION” OF ENGLISH POP ARTISTS, PRESENT SINCE 1961 AT THE MOST IMPORTANT INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS. IN ITS PAINTINGS THE FEMALE FIGURES PAINTED ACCORDING TO A CARTOON STEREOTYPE ARE CHARACTERISTICS. IN THE SCULPTURE-FURNITURE HER WOMAN-MANNEQUIN TRANSFORMS INTO A TABLE OR CHAIR, ASSUMING IRONICALLY ALLUSIVE POSITIONS (DOWNBEAT, 1975). THE THEME OF VOYEURISM, WHICH APPEARS IN THE WORKS OF A. IN THE 1970s (ENUNCIATION, 1977), IS DEVELOPED WITH IRONY AND MATURITY, WITHOUT EVER FALLING INTO MORBITY. THE EIGHTIES AND NINETIES MARK A FURTHER EVOLUTION OF HIS WORK. INTENSE RESEARCH HAS LEADED HIM TO A LARGE-SHADED COLOR IN WHICH A CERTAIN MATISSIAN ASCENDANCE IS EVEN MORE EVIDENT. SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE 1990s HAS BEEN PARTICULARLY ACTIVE FOR PUBLIC COMMITTEES, CREATING IMPRESSIVE PAINTED SCULPTURES (HEATHROW AIRPORT, 1991; CHELSEA AND WESTMINSTER HOSPITAL, 1992-93; TAIKOO PLACE, HONG KONG, 1997; DOCKLANDS, 2001) HIS IMPORTANT RETROSPECTIVES WERE HOSTED AT THE TATE BRITAIN IN LONDON (2007-2008) AND THE KUNSTHALLE IN TÜBINGEN (2012)