Siemon Allen
dal 16/1/2004 al 22/2/2004
Segnalato da
16/1/2004
Siemon Allen
Anderson Gallery, Des Moines
While varied in tone, the work of South African artist (born 1970, Durban, South Africa) is characterized by its ongoing reflection on individual and national identity by means of visual archives and the built environment. The artist often considers spaces in terms of how they impact and reflect the lives of those who inhabit them.
Current Projects
While varied in tone, the work of South African artist Siemon Allen (born 1970,
Durban, South Africa) is characterized by its ongoing reflection on individual
and national identity by means of visual archives and the built environment. The
artist often considers spaces in terms of how they impact and reflect the lives
of those who inhabit them.
One of Allen's latest projects, which premiered in a solo exhibition at the
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., and was later exhibited in Detourism
at the Renaissance Society, Chicago, is entitled Stamp Collection - Imagining
South Africa. This installation examines the political history and shifting
identity of South Africa through the display of a nearly complete archive of
postal stamps released in the country from 1910 to the present. Amassing factual
evidence from which viewers can draw their own conclusions, the piece reveals
how South Africa has chosen to represent itself both within its borders and
internationally. As interpreted by Kendall Buster, "Stamp Collection - Imagining
South Africa offers a fragmented narration that speaks not only through what is
shown but also through what is concealed and censured."*
Other projects by Allen include a 1/4-scale reconstruction of the artist's
childhood home in South Africa; the creation and maintenance of the Flat
International gallery in Durban (an exhibition space open to work critical of
the Apartheid regime); and beautiful woven videotape installations included in
the first Johannesburg Biennial.
Allen's work has been featured in The New York Times, Artforum, Flash Art, Art
Journal, and the New Art Examiner. His numerous solo and group exhibitions
include shows at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; the Institute of
Contemporary Art, Johannesburg; Artists Space, New York; the Renaissance
Society, Chicago; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.
Anderson Gallery
Harmon Fine Arts Center
Drake University 25th Street and Carpenter Avenue Des Moines, Iowa 50311