ALLEN JONES ART

A compilation from various Internet sources

Artist: Allen Jones (Born 1937, Southampton, England)
Nationality: British
Movement: Pop Art
Media: Painting, Printmaking, Sculpture, Design

Allen Jones was one of the pioneers of Pop art in Britain, shocking his tutors at the Royal College of Art with his 'excessive independence'. His paintings in the early 60s transform images of urban life into bold abstract designs in bright fairground colours. Here the slant of the canvas suggests the rapid movement of the bus but also sends up the idea of the traditional rectangular canvas. The 'target' wheels are attached separately, adding a sculptural dimension to the painting.

He had a large retrospective exhibition in 1979 at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, also shown at the Serpentine Gallery, London, at Sunderland, Baden-Baden and Bielefeld. From 1982 to 1983 he was Guest Professor at the Hochschule der Kunste, Berlin.

Several of Allen Jones's prints, sculptures and paintings explore the tension between male and female. These two fused figures express the Jungian notion that truly creative art requires both feminine and masculine characteristics. It can thus be read as a metaphorical self-portrait of Jones's own artistic quest. The overtly erotic female imagery is characteristic of much of Jones's later work, such as 'Chair' (in the Tate), which is a lifesize sculpture of a woman sado-masochistically bound to form a seat.  [Search "Salon des Vulcan."]

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