Jim Allen

Biography

Jim Allen, Poetry for Chainsaws, 1974/2022, performance at Michael Lett, 3 East St (performed by Ruth Allen)

Jim Allen, Horse and Buggy Days 1999, acrylic on canvas, 1990 x 1815mm, 1780 x 1815mm, 1865 x 1815mm and 1790 x 1815mm.

Jim Allen, Saboteur, 2009, mixed media on board, 2015 × 915 × 30 mm

Groundswell: Avant-garde Auckland 1971–1979 Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki 2018 / 2019 © Exhibition installation images courtesy of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki

Groundswell: Avant-garde Auckland 1971–1979 Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki 2018 / 2019 © Exhibition installation images courtesy of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki

Groundswell: Avant-garde Auckland 1971–1979 Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki 2018 / 2019 © Exhibition installation images courtesy of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki

Jim Allen, Communities, 1973 Installation view, Groundswell: Avant-garde Auckland 1971–1979 Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki 2018 / 2019 © Exhibition installation images courtesy of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki

Jim Allen, Communities, 1973/2018 Installation view, Groundswell: Avant-garde Auckland 1971–1979 Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki 2018 / 2019 © Exhibition installation images courtesy of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki

Jim Allen, Communities, 1973/2018 Installation view, Groundswell: Avant-garde Auckland 1971–1979, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki 2018 / 2019 © Exhibition installation images courtesy of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki

Jim Allen, Arena, 1970/2018 Installation view, Groundswell: Avant-garde Auckland 1971–1979 Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki 2018 / 2019 © Exhibition installation images courtesy of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki

Jim Allen, News, 1976, performance

Jim Allen, Arena, 1976, galvanised steel, barbed wire, clothing donated by friends and family, 2000 x 2000 x 2000 mm

Jim Allen, Tribute to Hone Tuwhare, 1969, PVC, artificial UV light, nylon thread, wooden spheres, printed paper, text by Hone Tuwhare (“Thine own hands have fashioned” from No Ordinary Sun), 2000 x 2000 x 2000 mm

Jim Allen, Tribute to Hone Tuwhare, 1969, PVC, artificial UV light, nylon thread, wooden spheres, printed paper, text by Hone Tuwhare (“Thine own hands have fashioned” from No Ordinary Sun), 2000 x 2000 x 2000 mm

Jim Allen, Computer Dance, 1974, performance, Govett Brewster Gallery, New Plymouth, 2010

Jim Allen, Poetry for Chainsaws, 1976, performance, Michael Lett, Auckland, 2006

Jim Allen, Hanging by a Thread II (detail), 2009, digital canvas print, photographic paper, bamboo, steel, hardwood, paper, hair, acrylic paint, wound dressing, digital video on DVD, monitors, installation dimensions variable

Jim Allen, Hanging by a Thread II, 2009, digital canvas print, photographic paper, bamboo, steel, hardwood, paper, hair, acrylic paint, wound dressing, digital video on DVD, monitors, installation dimensions variable

Jim Allen, Poetry for Chainsaws, 1976, c-type photograph, 145 x 210 mm

Jim Allen, Horse and Buggy Days 1999, acrylic on canvas, 1990 x 1815mm, 1780 x 1815mm, 1865 x 1815mm and 1790 x 1815mm.

Groundswell: Avant-garde Auckland 1971–1979 Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki 2018 / 2019 © Exhibition installation images courtesy of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki

Groundswell: Avant-garde Auckland 1971–1979 Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki 2018 / 2019 © Exhibition installation images courtesy of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki

Jim Allen, Communities, 1973/2018 Installation view, Groundswell: Avant-garde Auckland 1971–1979 Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki 2018 / 2019 © Exhibition installation images courtesy of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki

Jim Allen, Arena, 1970/2018 Installation view, Groundswell: Avant-garde Auckland 1971–1979 Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki 2018 / 2019 © Exhibition installation images courtesy of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki

Jim Allen, Arena, 1976, galvanised steel, barbed wire, clothing donated by friends and family, 2000 x 2000 x 2000 mm

Jim Allen, Tribute to Hone Tuwhare, 1969, PVC, artificial UV light, nylon thread, wooden spheres, printed paper, text by Hone Tuwhare (“Thine own hands have fashioned” from No Ordinary Sun), 2000 x 2000 x 2000 mm

Jim Allen, Poetry for Chainsaws, 1976, performance, Michael Lett, Auckland, 2006

Jim Allen, Hanging by a Thread II, 2009, digital canvas print, photographic paper, bamboo, steel, hardwood, paper, hair, acrylic paint, wound dressing, digital video on DVD, monitors, installation dimensions variable

Jim Allen

Born 1922, Wellington (NZ). Died 2023, Auckland (NZ)

Following service in World War II, Jim Allen studied art in Perugia and Florence, Italy before gaining a Diploma in Fine Arts from the University of Canterbury in 1951. He then studied at the Royal College of Art, London, returning to New Zealand in 1953 and becoming involved in arts education. Allen’s tenure in the sculpture department at Elam School of Fine Arts, Auckland is regarded as a transformative moment for the development of conceptual and performance-based practices in Aotearoa New Zealand. From 1977–1987 he served as the Founding Head, School of Arts, Sydney College of the Arts (later amalgamated with the University of Sydney).

Since 2000 a number of Allen’s early works have been re-staged, such as the two-part installation O-AR (1974) and the early performances Contact (1974), Poetry for Chainsaws (1976), News (1976) and On Planting a Native (1976) in Adelaide, Sydney, Auckland, New Plymouth, and Wellington. His video works have been shown widely in America, Germany, and the Netherlands.

Allen was awarded honorary doctorates from the University of Sydney (2007) and Auckland University of Technology (2007). In 2015 he was awarded with the Arts Foundation’s Icon Award Whakamana Hiranga, an honour which recognises a living circle of twenty of New Zealand’s most significant artists.

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Jim Allen, Poetry for Chainsaws, 1974/2022, performance at Michael Lett, 3 East St (performed by Ruth Allen)

Jim Allen, Horse and Buggy Days 1999, acrylic on canvas, 1990 x 1815mm, 1780 x 1815mm, 1865 x 1815mm and 1790 x 1815mm.

Jim Allen, Saboteur, 2009, mixed media on board, 2015 × 915 × 30 mm

Groundswell: Avant-garde Auckland 1971–1979 Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki 2018 / 2019 © Exhibition installation images courtesy of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki

Groundswell: Avant-garde Auckland 1971–1979 Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki 2018 / 2019 © Exhibition installation images courtesy of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki

Groundswell: Avant-garde Auckland 1971–1979 Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki 2018 / 2019 © Exhibition installation images courtesy of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki

Jim Allen, Communities, 1973 Installation view, Groundswell: Avant-garde Auckland 1971–1979 Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki 2018 / 2019 © Exhibition installation images courtesy of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki

Jim Allen, Communities, 1973/2018 Installation view, Groundswell: Avant-garde Auckland 1971–1979 Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki 2018 / 2019 © Exhibition installation images courtesy of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki

Jim Allen, Communities, 1973/2018 Installation view, Groundswell: Avant-garde Auckland 1971–1979, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki 2018 / 2019 © Exhibition installation images courtesy of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki

Jim Allen, Arena, 1970/2018 Installation view, Groundswell: Avant-garde Auckland 1971–1979 Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki 2018 / 2019 © Exhibition installation images courtesy of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki

Jim Allen, News, 1976, performance

Jim Allen, Arena, 1976, galvanised steel, barbed wire, clothing donated by friends and family, 2000 x 2000 x 2000 mm

Jim Allen, Tribute to Hone Tuwhare, 1969, PVC, artificial UV light, nylon thread, wooden spheres, printed paper, text by Hone Tuwhare (“Thine own hands have fashioned” from No Ordinary Sun), 2000 x 2000 x 2000 mm

Jim Allen, Tribute to Hone Tuwhare, 1969, PVC, artificial UV light, nylon thread, wooden spheres, printed paper, text by Hone Tuwhare (“Thine own hands have fashioned” from No Ordinary Sun), 2000 x 2000 x 2000 mm

Jim Allen, Computer Dance, 1974, performance, Govett Brewster Gallery, New Plymouth, 2010

Jim Allen, Poetry for Chainsaws, 1976, performance, Michael Lett, Auckland, 2006

Jim Allen, Hanging by a Thread II (detail), 2009, digital canvas print, photographic paper, bamboo, steel, hardwood, paper, hair, acrylic paint, wound dressing, digital video on DVD, monitors, installation dimensions variable

Jim Allen, Hanging by a Thread II, 2009, digital canvas print, photographic paper, bamboo, steel, hardwood, paper, hair, acrylic paint, wound dressing, digital video on DVD, monitors, installation dimensions variable

Jim Allen, Poetry for Chainsaws, 1976, c-type photograph, 145 x 210 mm