Blum & Poe is pleased to present an exhibition of new work by Alma Allen. This marks the artist’s second exhibition with Blum & Poe and first solo gallery presentation in New York City.

The exhibition features works from three interrelated series of intricately shaped semi-precious stones, bronze sculptures, and amorphous wood forms. These specifically chosen natural materials have been a constant for Allen over the past twenty-five years, allowing him to produce a distinctive set of sculptural forms recognized for their playful and sophisticated, yet personally symbolic, narrative.

The minimal gestures and elegant presence represented in the works are central to Allen’s multi-leveled exploration of abstraction. In their immediacy and motion, and in the artist’s ability to distill physical reactions into distinct form, Allen’s nuanced sculptures can be read as embodiments of transformation. Anthropomorphic details that emerge out of wood, bronze, and such gemstones as lapis lazuli, hematite, obsidian, or tigereye reveal a chimerical and dreamscape mise en scène.

In addition to the works on view in the main gallery spaces, Allen has created an outstretched outdoor bronze sculpture reminiscent of Brancusi’s Bird in Space or a straining vine trying to find its footing. This non-representational form that is rooted in nature is installed on the fourth floor terrace and gives a nod to the history of modernist sculpture and to the freeing of perception.

Born in Heber City, Utah in 1970 Alma Allen has exhibited his work since the 1990s. Allen was included in the Whitney Biennial in 2014; and most recently in group exhibitions at the de Saisset Museum, Santa Clara, CA and the Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, CA. Allen lives and works in Joshua Tree, CA.

Selected Works