January 17 - March 3, 2022
From Wright Gallery
“Wright Gallery in the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University (College Station) presents an exhibition by artist Catherine Allen titled, “En Route.” The exhibition runs from January 17th through March 3rd 2022. The artist presents a virtual artist talk on February 10th 4:00 – 5:00 PM including Q&A with visitors on Zoom. Open to the public, please join Zoom with Meeting ID 956 4572 4130, or visit: tamu.zoom.us/j/95645724130.
Allen’s bright colored paintings explore place and middle class lifestyles. Midland, Texas, the artist describes is, “an area known for oil and gas production and a boom-or-bust economy […] and most of the pictures associated with this place are of oil derricks at sunset and cowboys on horses.” The subjects in her work describe realities of the region such as temporary housing for oil workers and construction sites for suburban homes. Through her car window, Allen photographs neighborhoods and open spaces from her daily surroundings. Using a smartphone, she creates digital collages with abstracted perspective and blurred pixels to paint later using oil paint. Allen considers herself a worker who paints; her digital preliminary process allows her to pause and continue around her job.
“En Route ” is an autobiographical exhibition exploring the artist’s daily life in West Texas mediated by a vehicle and smartphone. Themes of economy, use of land and resources, and modern conveniences such as automobiles are throughout the work. Paintings of fragmented landscapes and distorted corporate buildings seem to shift and tilt with a sense that they may be rocked at any moment by earthquakes caused by fracking. Alongside this imagery, people carry on at a yard sale and sit back to celebrate the 4th of July while suburban construction continues.
Allen was born and raised in Midland, Texas, and received her Bachelor degree in Painting from nearby University of Texas of the Permian Basin. Her work has been shown statewide including the Texas Biennial 2017, the Oso Bay Biennial XX, and Texas Vignette 2019. Her work is in the collections of the University of Texas at Tyler and University of Texas of the Permian Basin.
Located in Langford Architecture Building A at Texas A&M, the Wright Gallery is open weekdays 8 am – 4 pm. For questions, please email the Curator, Rebecca Pugh: [email protected]. To learn more about the Wright Gallery, please visit www.arch.tamu.edu/inside/services/wright-gallery/.”
Wright Gallery, TAMU College Station
College of Architecture, Texas A&M University, 3137 TAMU, Langford Architecture Building A
College Station, 77843 Texas
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