Richard Allen

Distinctive abstracted landscapes and wildlife

Richard Allen was born and raised in Sydney while also spending large amounts of time crisscrossing the country flying at low altitudes with his grandfather, producing a legacy rich in inspiration for his distinctive abstracted landscapes and wildlife paintings. He is an artist who relishes experimentation and evolution in his work, exploring new mediums and view points while returning comfortably to earlier discoveries, themes and styles.

Allen’s latest paintings though often abstracted, display a dazzling palette of exuberant colour, suggestive of strength and energy. The artist uses strong geometric or linear forms, which he then softens with either round shapes or arabesques, suggestive of calligraphy, musical clefs or trailing fronds of vegetation - inevitably suggestive of masculine and feminine counterparts.

One longs to run ones fingers along the canvas of these paintings, caressing and searching for the hidden story lying just below the surface. The impasto stripling, rippling, scraping and embossing effects and the tough luscious varnishes give depth and an added tactile dimension to the visually sumptuous work. Allen exhibits annually in numerous solo and group shows around the world and is collected discretely but passionately.