Small Moments of Little Joy (Added Value Version)

Location

Country: Netherlands
City: The Hague
Place: British Embassy

London-based artist Phillip Allen's work addresses the physical activity of painting, the difference between paint densities, and the flatness of a canvas. The relationship between paint and surface suggests the broader dialogue between abstraction and figuration, a topic that is frequently analysed in modern painting. Allen's composition draws attention to the fact that no matter how stylised a painting is, its physical make-up always derives from the nature of its materials.

Like many of Allen's works, this painting includes forms that look like cartoon-like empty speech bubbles. He has described how they allude to the impulse to express an emotion or thought, while not necessarily knowing what to say.

Phillip Allen was born in London and graduated from the Royal College of Art, London, in 1992. He has had numerous solo shows including: Kerlin Gallery, Dublin, 2005; The Approach Gallery, London, in 2004 and 2002; and PS1, New York, 2003. In 2005 his work was included in the touring show British Art Show 6, which opened at Baltic, Gateshead, and then travelled to Manchester, Nottingham and Bristol throughout 2006. His work was also exhibited in Another Shitty Day in Paradise, a group exhibition at Bart Wells Institute, London, in 2002; Post Flat - New Art from London, at Lock's Gallery, Philadelphia, 2003; and Stay Positive at Marella Arte Contemporanea, Milan, in 2004.

Places

Subjects

triangle (abstract shape), abstract, paradise

Materials & Techniques

MDF, oil, oil painting

Artist

Phillip Allen (1967 - )

Title

Small Moments of Little Joy (Added Value Version)

Date

2002

Medium

Oil on primed MDF

Dimensions

height: 153.50 cm, width: 125.00 cm, depth: 13.50 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from The Approach, August 2002

Inscription

verso: PHIL ALLEN / 2002 / OIL ON BOARD (MDF) / SMALL MOMENTS OF / LITTLE JOY / ADDED VALUE / VERSION

Provenance

The Approach, London

GAC number

17734