The New York Optimist
© MMIX, The New York Optimist. All Rights Reserved. The New York Optimist & www.thenewyorkoptimist.com is a registered trademark
of The New York Optimist.  The New York Optimist is a registered service mark of Thenewyorkoptimist.com. The New York Optimist logo
and original photos are a registered trademark of The New York Optimist  . All other photos are property of the advertiser. And are
rightfully protected under their copyright protections.
Facebook
Twitter
Stumble
You Tube
Digg It
SHARE
You Are The World

New works by Kelly Allen

A new exhibition at
Bold Hype Gallery November 15, 2012 - December 15, 2012 For Press Inquiries contact: Eric Althin eric@boldhype.
com

For Immediate Release

New York, NY (November 2, 2012) - Bold Hype Gallery is proud to present “You are the World” new works by Kelly Allen. Ten percent of the
proceeds will be donated to the American Red Cross Hurricane Sandy Disaster Relief. This new exhibition delivers Kelly Allen’s signature
style of immaculately painted, trompe l’oeil compositions of colorful, graphic, nature-centric clusters of diversity. Derived from collage
sketches in a range of subject, scale, and media, the work draws the viewer in through skillful craftsmanship and holds one there to uncover
the mysteries of her arrangements.Working in oils, gouache, and colored pencils, Allen’s meticulous renderings of flora and fauna merge
with hard-edged stripes, dots, and drips to reveal secret stories to the individual, and echo ancestral beliefs that pay respect to our fellow
creatures that inhabit the earth.

Simultaneously,Allen takes us further down her path by introducing an accompanying series of anthropomorphic works that feature face-
and mask-like compositions, some of which blend abstract gestural strokes with tightly rendered human and nonhuman features. Reflecting
on power through economy of form, the artist reduces the number of elements down to an essential minimalism, shifting the emphasis from
physical abundance to consciousness and energy. Greatly inspired by the book, The Secret Life of Plants,Allen considers the level of
awareness in non-human life forms.The artist adds,“Realizing that plants, insects, and other life forms are much more perceptive than
humans recognize, adds depth and a magical dimension to life. Everything is interconnected and is communicating in a multitude of
languages and systems.The implications are limitless.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Kelly Allen was born south of Detroit, Michigan in 1979 and currently lives and works in the San Francisco Bay area. She first attendedThe
Memphis College of Art in 1998, where she studied textiles. She then went on to earn a BA in Painting in 2003 from Humboldt State
University and an MFA in Drawing from Kendall College of Art and Design in 2007, in addition to at- tending ar tist residencies at Ox-Bow
of The Ar t Institute of Chicago, and Harold Ar ts of Chicago, IL.

Having focused in many different artistic disciplines,Allen had been drawn to textiles,printmaking,and sculpture,before devot- ing herself to
painting, drawing, and collage.The artist discovered her current body of work while making collages at an artist’s residency. A particular
work fueled a desire for her to make a drawing of it, in order to study it and know it more deeply.This began a series that has developed
over the past five years. Working in a multi-step process, she begins with making a collage from her large archive of images, which serves
as a blueprint for her painting. Allen then meticulously creates a photorealistic painting of the collage, intentionally mimicking the
appearance of a collage to achieve a slickness that often tricks the viewer. Working in oil on canvas, gouache, and colored pencil on paper,
she produces trompe l’oeil images, composed with a medita- tive-like focus on the notion of the interconnection. Allen’s works feature many
creatures and elements from the natural and human realms, spun together with hard-edged graphic shapes in bold, bright hues and
patterns. This intricate body of work conjures an idiosyncratic sense of symbolism, asking the viewer to create new connections and
relationships between concrete and abstract ideas, with a focus on respect for the natural world.

ABOUT THE GALLERY

Bold Hype Gallery, established in 2008, showcases bold new art. Exhibitions rotate every month, ranging in style and genre from pop
surrealism, to street art, to the still undefined. The gallery occasionally shows established artists, but focuses primarily on providing
opportunities for emerging artists.

BOLD HYPE GALLERY 547 W. 27th St. 5 FL New York, NY 10001 212.868.2322 www.boldhype.comSELECTED EXIBITIONS Solo
Exhibitions: 2012 2010 2009

Thinkspace Gallery, Culver City, CA Humboldt State University’s First Street Gallery, Eureka, CA The Medicine Agency Gallery, San
Francisco, CA Byrneboehm Gallery, Grand Rapids, MI Group Exhibitions: 2012

2011 2010 2009 2008 Corporeal Clusters, 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco, CA Love/Hate, StolenSpace Gallery, London PangeaSeed’
s Great West Coast Migration (traveling exhibition) Wild At Heart,Thinkspace, Culver City, CA Heaven: Benefit for the Art of Elysium held by
Christie’s, Los Angeles, CA Spoke Art Gallery, Oakland, CA Wild Life, StolenSpace Gallery, London LAX/PDX,Together Gallery, Portland,
OR Beyond Eden, LA Municipal Arts Gallery, Los Angeles, CA Impetus, Joseph Gross Gallery, University of Arizona,Tuscon, AZ Group
Exhibition, Urban Institute For Contemporary Art, Grand Rapids, MI Culver City Art Walk,Thinkspace Gallery, Culver City, CA Moment, 111
Minna Gallery, San Francisco Dig For Fire, CAVE Gallery,Venice, CA Fractured,Bold Hype Gallery,NewYork,NY San Francisco Fine Art
Fair, Michael Rosenthal Gallery, San Francisco, CA Redial, Experimental Exhibition, Byrneboehm Gallery -invented/curated by Allen Live
Coverage, 2010, Live Exhibition/Auction, UICA, Grand Rapids, MI Mutant Anxiety, Michael Rosenthal Gallery, San Francisco, CA Fresh
Start, Santa Monica Art Studios, Santa Monica, CA I Know What You Did Last Summer,The Co-Prosperity Sphere, Chicago, IL You Rule
Me, Heaven Gallery, Chicago, IL

BOLD HYPE GALLERY 547 W. 27th St. 5 FL New York, NY 10001 212.868.2322
www.boldhype.com
You Are The World
New works by Kelly Allen
"Sweet Breath"
Media: Oil on Canvas