Allison Blumenthal has focussed over the past ten years primarily on painting, but also works in sculpture, drawing and photography. In her nearly two decades of art making, she maintains a deep connection to the landscape and natural world as a metaphor for thinking about human experience and questioning our anthropocentric hubris. Nature in the tradition of the sublime or to a larger sense of meaning, but also as an urgent means to examine histories of human violence.
Recent years have seen a formal shift that aligns with her thoughts about the depiction of violence and grief for our world in decline. The paintings implicate the body and a very physical act of making. They involve friction, scarring, covering over, failure. She draws directly into the surface of the unstretched canvas using oils or oil pastel and her fingers. Layers of paint become embedded and then scraped away, re-applied, and removed to reveal the underlying layers. This approach feels appropriate to the subject matter at hand, and marks a divergence from her earlier work both formally and conceptually. Previous paintings were often made in one-shot. There was little room for correction or mistakes, resulting in paintings that felt transparent and light, with one color applied to a thin ground (e.g. Hanami, Skeins, Champs). Until 2022, she was primarily investigating personal relationships and dynamics in her abstractions. The Night Gardens paintings (2022) opened the way for the shift in content and approach, using painted contrasting lines to delineate ambiguous and irregular spaces and forms on a dark ground, delving into darker realms of human experience and global anxiety.
Allison Blumenthal’s work is non-figurative and “unpeopled”, which might pose a paradox or challenge when thinking about human experience, but she believes strongly that abstraction can be political and also convey a deeply personal response to the world. She is not interested in the picturesque, nor an escape- she aims for the opposite: to draw the viewer in, to look hard at our non-humanity, and to question our constructed narratives.
She holds a DNA from The School of Fine Arts Lyon, a BA in Political Science from the University of Hawaii, and a Master’s in Business Administration from Columbia University with a focus on non-profit management. She is a member of the collective MORE Projects in Paris, France, and co-founder of PortfolioWorks, providing art teaching and mentoring to high school students. Her work is in numerous private collections and she exhibits regularly in France, the US, and the UK.
CV
Born in New York, lives in Paris, France.
EDUCATION
2018 DNA, Beaux Arts de Lyon
2017-18 Turps Banana, London
2008-09 IDEP, Escuela Superior de Imagen y Diseño, Barcelona
2001 MBA, Columbia University, NY
1996 BA, University of Hawaii, HI
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025 A Widening Angle, Parliament, Paris, FR
2023 Night Gardens, Galerie Javault - Eva Pritsky, Paris, FR
2022 Black Box, curated by Frédéric Houvert, Manoir Mouthier, FR
2020 Tipping on a wire, Julio, Paris, FR
2015 Distillations, Zita Art Space with IDK Contemporary, Brussels, BE
2014 Bas-Reliefs, Galerie des Paysages, Avignon, FR
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 Too many recordss, MORE Projects, Fondation Pernod Ricard, Paris, FR
2023 Colour, Texture, Substance, No Name, curated by Robyn Graham/Warbling, Kingsgate Project Space, London, UK
Field Projects (online), curated by Triton Mobley, New York, NY, USA
2022 Chocolate Fresa Vainilla, curated by Camila Oliveira Fairclough, Galeria Luis Adelantado, Valencia, ESP
Between States, curated by Michael David and Jennifer Samet, M. David & Co., Brooklyn, NY, USA
Le vent souffle où il veut, curated by Hugo Pernet, Chez Valentin, Paris, FR
Abracadabra, Maison de l’Argentine, Cité Universitaire, Paris, FR
2021 Désordre des possibles, Julio/Space in Progress, Paris, FR
Les yeux fermés, co-curated with Camila Oliveira Fairclough, Paris, FR
2020 This Year’s Model, Studio 1.1, London, UK
2019 Street Art, outdoor installation curated by Elsa Wurth and Camila Oliveira Fairclough, Paris FR
Carry on combines, co-curated with Emily Noelle Lambert, Paris FR
2018 Christmas Project, Galerie Immanence, Paris FR
Introductions, curated by Enrico Gomez, Trestle Gallery, Brooklyn, NY USA
2017 Cartons Pleins, More Projects, St. Ouen, FR
Subito Presto #2, curated by Claire Colin-Collin, Progress Gallery, Paris FR
Beyond the Map, curated by Sorianna Stagnitta, NICE Projects, Paratissima Art Fair, Turin IT
Projections, curated by Pauline Lisowski, Shakirail, Paris, FR
2016 Cruelle Énigme, curated by Margaux Bonopera, St. Ouen FR
YIA International Art Fair, Galerie Xenon, Paris FR
Bring Something Pink, curated by Yifat Gat, Look & Listen, Paris FR
Là-haut, curated by Aurélie Barnier, La Graineterie, Houilles FR
2015 Groupshow, Galerie Xenon, Bordeaux FR
Distillations, Zita Art Space with IDK Contemporary, Brussels BE
2014 Confort Moderne, Espace Clovis IV, Brussels BE
Points de Coïncidences, Galerie Jeune Création, Paris FR
D’ici là jailliront des cascades, Galerie Xenon, Bordeaux FR
2013 Jeune Création, Exposition Internationale d’Art Contemporain, Le CentQuatre, Paris FR
8ème Biennale Européenne d'Art Contemporain, Nîmes, FR
RESIDENCIES
2020 The Vermont Studio Center, VT USA
CURATING / COLLECTIVE
2024- Member of the collective MORE Projects, Paris FR
2021 Les yeux fermés, with Camila Oliveira Fairclough, Paris, FR
2019 Carry On Combines, with Emily Noelle Lambert, Paris, FR
2016 Subito Presto #1, with Claire Colin-Collin, Paris, FR
TEACHING
2019 - present Individual instruction and portfolio preparation, PortfolioWorks
2019 Guest critic, Experimental Drawing, Parsons Paris