Heather Allen

I studied Fine Art at Reading University in the '70s when abstraction was the dominant art form. Under its influence I began to move from figurative to non-figurative work based on the implied extensions and movements of objects in space. This repeated movement between the figurative and the non-figurative is evident throughout my work.

The small-scale figures, initially self-portraits, made between 1997 and 2012 (see ) "avoid the anecdotal because the intuitively coordinated actions, captured in facial expressions, have no obvious meaning. In other words, the meaning is left open. Something is happening, but what is happening may change course in one direction or another, may dissolve. It is as if the group dynamics, together with the individual characters, must be understood as a process of self-discovery within the collective setting, as a transfer of this identification of the self into the collective setting". (Dr Jean-Christophe Ammann, catalogue text 'Heather Allen')

While the figures are active in the world in ways that we recognise, albeit sometimes ambiguously, the sculptures and paintings that have been coming out of the studio since 2013 have their roots in the subconscious. I let the shapes, forms and lines emerge in...

BA (Hons) Fine Art & Art History, Reading University, UK

MA Fine Art - Combined Media, Chelsea School of Art, London, UK

Postgraduate Certificate in Art Education, Manchester Polytechnic, UK

Solo/two-person shows

2022:
Here to there and back – again, Kurt-Kurt Projektzentrale, Berlin

2018:
Here to there and back, Projektraum Blah Blah, Berlin

Once upon a Time, with Thomas Henriksson, Projektraum Blah Blah, Berlin

2015:
Comin’ round the mountain or what the hell?!, with Katrin Hoffert, Galerie Axel Obiger, Berlin

kurz-kurz in Kurt-Kurt, with Thomas Henriksson, Kurt Kurt Projektzentrale, Berlin

2012:
Alius Mundus, Kunsthalle m3, Berlin

2011:
Plastische Werke, BBG, Berlin

2009:
Climb, Waygood, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

2008:
Line up and be, berlin art scouts, Berlin

The House at Egg Stream, Video Space, Galerie Herrmann & Wagner, Berlin

2007:
Balcony, Oasenschatten with Jan Philip Scheibe, Kurt-Kurt Projekzentrale, Berlin

Cellar, Pince Galeria, Budapest

Kunstblock 1, Advotec, Giessen

2006:
Where is she, and who did the work?, Galerie Perpetuel, Frankfurt/Main

Der Esel ist Tot, with Julia Oschatz, Heimspiel, Frankfurt/Main

2005:
What didn’t happen to me in Berlin, ARP, Galerie Hermann & Wagner, Berlin

Heather Allen, Forum-1822, Frankfurt/Main

Heather Allen, Stadt Galerie, Fellbach

2003:
Ain’t she sweet…?, Zagreus Projekt, Berlin

2002:
Eva und der Teufel, Ausstellungsraum de Ligt, Frankfurt/Main

Tight skin, ...