Select Portfolio - Stuart Allen - Page 3

Stuart Allen is an artist whose work deals with fundamental elements of perception such as light, time, gravity and space. He has shown photographs, kites and sculpture in galleries and museums throughout the U.S. and abroad. His work is found in many private and public collections including the Tokyo Kite Museum, the Crocker Art Museum, the DiRosa Art Preserve, UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, and U.S. Embassy collections in Canada, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, and the Republic of Georgia. Allen has completed permanent public art commissions for the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa, Canada and the Police Headquarters building in Davis, CA. His work has been published in a variety of books and journals including: Picturing California’s Other Landscape: the Great Central Valley, Terra Nova: Nature and Culture, You Are Here: the Journal of Creative Geography, Zyzzyva and Artweek. Allen has lectured or served as a visiting artist at many fine institutions including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Weisman Art Museum, the Atlantic Center for the Arts, and a number of university art departments nationwide. Allen studied architecture at Kansas University and graduated from the photography and video department of the Kansas City Art Institute in 1994. He lives in San Antonio, Texas with his wife Kelly Lyons, their daughter Aidan and son Vincent. Allen is represented by the following galleries: PDNB, Dallas, TX; JayJay, Sacramento, CA; Jan Manton Art, Brisbane, Australia; Haw Contemporary, Kansas City, MO.

Stuart Allen, artist, photographer, sculptor, public art, kite, kite maker, art consultant, Jayjay, haw contemporary, pdnb gallery, science and art

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Archive

December 2, 2014

Aloft

Aloft, 2010
U.V. ink on aluminum, string
5 pieces: each 9′ x 2′ x 80′

temporary installation: San Antonio International Airport
permanent installation: Rackspace, San Antonio, TX

Panel text courtesy of Rackspace:

Allen has been working with kites since the early 1990’s. He has constructed hundreds of them, from tiny objects flown on a thread, to aluminum sails designed to fly underwater, to huge paper and bamboo kites that require several adults to manage. The installation at Rackspace, entitled ALOFT, incorporates five kite forms that are based on traditional Japanese kite designs. Extremely low-resolution images of the sky are printed on the aluminum surface of the kites. Allen explains the connection between the imagery and kites as follows:

Regardless of its size in the studio or on the ground, any kite will be eaten up by the enormity of the sky. It’s humbling to spend days or months working on a large piece and then send it aloft to watch it sink into the vastness of the sky. Kites are designed to recede in space – to travel away from the viewer. I am interested in playing with that change in viewing distance. Up close, the heavily pixilated imagery is an abstraction. Viewed from a distance the pixels resolve into a recognizable image.

<em>Aloft</em>, 2010, u.v. ink on aluminum, string, 5 pieces: each 9′ x 2′ x 80′

Aloft, 2010, u.v. ink on aluminum, string, 5 pieces: each 9′ x 2′ x 80′

December 2, 2014

37° 48′ 29″ N ~ 96° 52′ 52″ W

37° 48′ 29″ N ~ 96° 52′ 52″ W, 2010
pvc coated polyester, stainless steel, laminated ash and cherry
each piece: 14′ 3″ x 6′ 1″ x 5′ 4″
overall: approx. 24′ x 24′ x 10′

permanent installation: Butler Community College, El Dorado, Kansas

Three individual forms are suspended from the ceiling and move with the lobby’s interior air currents.

<em>37° 48' 29" N ~ 96° 52' 52" W </em>, 2010

37° 48' 29" N ~ 96° 52' 52" W , 2010

December 2, 2014

San Antonio Riverwalk Installations

29° 25′ 57″ N / 98° 29′ 13″ W, 2009
stainless steel tubing, stainless steel mesh, powder-coating
40′ x 45′ x 10′

29° 26′ 00″ N / 98° 29′ 07″ W, 2009
stainless steel tubing, stainless steel mesh, powder-coating
40′ x 45′ x 10′

permanent installations: San Antonio Riverwalk, San Antonio, TX

29° 25′ 57″ N / 98° 29′ 13″ W and 29° 26′ 00″ N / 98° 29′ 07″ W are permanent installations along the famed Riverwalk in San Antonio, Texas. The work consists of suspended, stainless steel panels – each enclosing five layers of woven, architectural mesh. The three inner layers of mesh are treated with a powder-coated color. As visitors move by the installations on foot, bicycle or riverboat, the panels change color due to the viewer’s shifting perspective. The project’s 24-color palette was selected from photographs taken along the San Antonio River by the artist’s children Aidan and Vincent (4 1/2 and 1 1/2 when the snapshots were made).

Installed at the McCullough and Brooklyn Avenue underpasses, the project is part of a significant public initiative to expand the San Antonio Riverwalk. Funding for multiple public art commissions along the 1.5 mile development was provided by the San Antonio River Foundation.

<em>29° 25' 57" N / 98° 29' 13" W and 29° 26' 00" N / 98° 29' 07" W</em>, 2009 (photo: Mark Menjivar)

29° 25' 57" N / 98° 29' 13" W and 29° 26' 00" N / 98° 29' 07" W, 2009 (photo: Mark Menjivar)

<em>29° 25' 57" N / 98° 29' 13" W and 29° 26' 00" N / 98° 29' 07" W</em>, 2009

29° 25' 57" N / 98° 29' 13" W and 29° 26' 00" N / 98° 29' 07" W, 2009

December 2, 2014

35 Minutes of Air

35 Box Kites: each 398 cubic inches, the volume of air I breathe in one minute at rest, 2009
sailcloth, fiberglass, string
each kite: 7 3/8″ x 7 3/8″ x 7 3/8″,
overall: 60″ x 60″ x 60″
temporary installation: Gensler Architects, Houston, TX

<em>35 Box Kites</em>, temporary installation: Gensler Architects, Houston, TX

35 Box Kites, temporary installation: Gensler Architects, Houston, TX

December 2, 2014

Parallax, 2009
UV ink on 1/2″ acrylic, fabric screen
each panel: 60″ x 60″, overall dimensions: approx. 20′ x 10′ x 9′

temporary installation: Artpace, San Antonio, TX
permanent installation: University of Texas, San Antonio

For more information please click here for an artist’s statement.

<em>PARALLAX</em>, 2009, temporary installation: Artpace, San Antonio, TX

PARALLAX, 2009, temporary installation: Artpace, San Antonio, TX

<em>PARALLAX </em>(animation frames – panel 1), 2009, temporary installation: Artpace, San Antonio, TX

PARALLAX (animation frames – panel 1), 2009, temporary installation: Artpace, San Antonio, TX
Allen_Parallax01

<em>PARALLAX</em>, 2009, installation: U. Texas, San Antonio

PARALLAX, 2009, installation: U. Texas, San Antonio
Stuart_Allen_parallax

PARALLAX, 2009, installation: U. Texas, San Antonio

December 2, 2014

38° 44′ 48″ N ~ 121° 14′ 54″ W

38° 44′ 48″ N ~ 121° 14′ 54″ W, 2009
ash, cherry, pvc coated polyester, string
each piece: 6’7″ x 4’9″ x 2′ 2″
overall: approx. 15′ x 15′ x 14′

permanent installation: Kaiser Permanente Hospital, Women and Children’s Center, Roseville, CA

The three suspended kite forms rotate freely with the air movement in the hospital lobby.

38° 44' 48" N ~ 121° 14' 54" W, permanent installation: Kaiser Permanente Hospital, Women and Children's Center, Roseville, CA

December 11, 2014

Skies

An extension of the Baja series, all images are pixels extracted from the sky section of photographs taken in different parts of the world. The origin of the original photograph is indicated in small text along the bottom of the print.

<em>Baja California Sur, Mexico / Sky No. 1, 9 Pixels</em>, 2009, photograph - pigment print on Somerset rag, 30" x 24"

Baja California Sur, Mexico / Sky No. 1, 9 Pixels, 2009, photograph - pigment print on Somerset rag, 30" x 24"

<em>Baja California Sur, Mexico / Sky No. 5, 100 Pixels</em>, 2007, photograph - pigment print on Somerset rag, 30" x 24"

Baja California Sur, Mexico / Sky No. 5, 100 Pixels, 2007, photograph - pigment print on Somerset rag, 30" x 24"

<em>Baja California Sur, Mexico / Sky No. 6, 25 Pixels</em>, 2006, photograph - pigment print on Somerset rag, 30" x 24"

Baja California Sur, Mexico / Sky No. 6, 25 Pixels, 2006, photograph - pigment print on Somerset rag, 30" x 24"

<em>County Kerry, Ireland / Sky No. 6, 9 Pixels</em>, 2009, photograph - pigment print on Somerset rag, 30" x 24"

County Kerry, Ireland / Sky No. 6, 9 Pixels, 2009, photograph - pigment print on Somerset rag, 30" x 24"

<em>Kansas City, Missouri / Sky No. 3, 9 Pixels</em>, 2009, photograph - pigment print on Somerset rag, 30" x 24"

Kansas City, Missouri / Sky No. 3, 9 Pixels, 2009, photograph - pigment print on Somerset rag, 30" x 24"

<em>Kansas City, Missouri / Sky No. 5, 9 Pixels</em>, 2009, photograph - pigment print on Somerset rag, 30" x 24"

Kansas City, Missouri / Sky No. 5, 9 Pixels, 2009, photograph - pigment print on Somerset rag, 30" x 24"

<em>Black Rock Desert, Nevada / Sky No. 2, 4 Pixels</em>, 2007, photograph - pigment print on Somerset rag, 30" x 24"

Black Rock Desert, Nevada / Sky No. 2, 4 Pixels, 2007, photograph - pigment print on Somerset rag, 30" x 24"

<em>Santa Fe, New Mexico / Sky No. 2, 9 Pixels</em>, 2007, photograph - pigment print on Somerset rag, 30" x 24"

Santa Fe, New Mexico / Sky No. 2, 9 Pixels, 2007, photograph - pigment print on Somerset rag, 30" x 24"

<em>Central Park, New York City / Sky No. 3, 9 Pixels</em>, 2006, photograph - pigment print on Somerset rag, 30" x 24"

Central Park, New York City / Sky No. 3, 9 Pixels, 2006, photograph - pigment print on Somerset rag, 30" x 24"

December 2, 2014

30 Minutes of Air

30 Minutes of Air: each kite 398 cubic inches, the approximate volume of air I breathe in one minute at rest, 2008
sailcloth, fiberglass, string,
each piece: 7 3/8″ x 7 3/8″ x 7 3/8″ overall: approx. 12′ x 9′ x 3′
permanent installation: South Texas Blood and Tissue Center, San Antonio, TX

Commissioned for the South Texas Blood and Tissue Center, 30 Minutes of Air is a consideration of respiration, rhythm and the passage of time. As the title suggests, each kite encloses a space equivalent to the artist’s tidal volume over the course of one minute: 30 Kites = 30 Minutes of Air.

Notes:
– Tidal volume is the volume of air inspired or expired in a single breath during regular breathing.
– 13 breaths per minute at approx. 30.63 cu. inches = 398.19 cu. inches per minute.

30 Minutes of Air, 2008

December 2, 2014

Paper Bag Kites

A project inspired by a grocery bag. In 2007, the Texas-based Central Market stores began using a paper bag bearing a clever little narrative about how the bag would like to be made into a kite. Ranging in size from 18 in. to over 6 ft. tall, these kites are constructed from those paper bags. All are based on traditional kite designs: some Eastern, some Western.

Click here for more information.