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Biography
Bale Creek Allen was born in Los Angeles in 1968 and currently resides in Austin, Texas. He studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Careful attention to detail, use of familiar objects in unexpected ways, and craftsmanship are Bale Creek Allen's expertise. He was awarded his degree after only 2 years due to the quality of his work. David Byrne, musician and artist, who has known him for 20 years, stated, "Not only does Bale see his life made of fiddles, ice cream, tire treads, and tumbleweeds, but he accepts that, loves it, and has found a way to use and combine those materials." Allen states, "The tumbleweeds are translations of something organic into something permanent. They are objects of beauty and I want people to see them for their own exceptional sculptural qualities."
The bronze tumbleweeds are created through an extremely complex lost wax casting method and individually coated with variant patinas ranging from 18-karat gold to sterling silver, and nickel. The process of making the tumbleweeds sculptures includes coating the plant with a material that hardens into a vessel tough enough to receive molten bronze. After the coating dries, the tumbleweed is burned out in a furnace to leave an exquisite detailed impression. Similar to tumbleweeds, Allen collected the tire treads and preserved these unwanted scraps by casting them in bronze and sometimes dipping them in 24-karat gold.
Bale Creek Allen amplifies Texas-Panhandle iconography to create bold visual statements about rural Southwestern life.
Bale Creek Allen's works have been exhibited widely in solo and group exhibitions since 1984 in Austin, Los Angeles, Boston, Fresno, San Antonio, and Santa Barbara. Some of his solo exhibitions are Empire (2007), Tumbleweeds (2004), Natural Selections (2003), New Works (2003), Recent Works (2003), Faith and Superstition (2002), Refrigerated Air (2002). Jesus Christ from East L.A (2002), A Pogo is a Logo (2002), and many more. His artwork "Skin of the White Lady" is permanently installed at Philips Lighting Head Office, Eindhoven, and The Netherlands. Famous collection by Allen are Three-headed Rattlesnake, Head of State, Boxes of Nails, Blood, Sweat, and Tears, Evil Empire Mask, Crucifix, and Jesus Belt. Bale also has performed on stage as male lead and in film, True Stories (1991). He produced a self-titled solo album in 1999 and owns Gallery 68, a 280 square feet space in a funky arts complex on East Martin Luther King Boulevard, Austin, Texas. Austin Chronicle praised his works as "dark, dangerous, evoking the profane logic of superstition and black magic."
Tumbleweeds:
The grace of Austin-based Bale Creek Allen's cast bronze tumbleweed sculptures defies their materiality. Despite the permanence and weight of the bronze, they remain airy and intricate. Each of these tumbleweeds has a different character and surface patina; each was assembled by piecing together the individually cast branches. Some are placed upright, others on their side, lending each a unique personality and also evoking the memory of their presumed movement with the wind. Allen's sculptures are elegantly installed, placed on white pedestals that are scattered throughout the gallery. Mounted on the surrounding walls are montages of images and ephemera printed on sheets of aluminum by James Hill. The black ink on the aluminum gives the images a rich surface that makes the images sing. This stunning show brings together two artists whose divergent works benefit from and enhance each other.
Published courtesy of ArtScene 2010
These unusual 'traditional metal sculptures', cast in bronze; emulate the traditional form of the American West's signifier of choice. It is singularly the contrast between the rigor of the emulated natural form (which evokes the original in spectacular fashion) and the crudeness associated with its means of production. Drawing from this Allen's tumbleweeds evoke aspect of technology and culture, simulation and the human project as a whole. It is perhaps this aspect which inherently fascinates.
Bale Creek Allen was born in Los Angeles in 1968 and currently resides in Austin, Texas. He studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Careful attention to detail, use of familiar objects in unexpected ways, and craftsmanship are Bale Creek Allen's expertise. He was awarded his degree after only 2 years due to the quality of his work. David Byrne, musician and artist, who has known him for 20 years, stated, "Not only does Bale see his life made of fiddles, ice cream, tire treads, and tumbleweeds, but he accepts that, loves it, and has found a way to use and combine those materials." Allen states, "The tumbleweeds are translations of something organic into something permanent. They are objects of beauty and I want people to see them for their own exceptional sculptural qualities."
The bronze tumbleweeds are created through an extremely complex lost wax casting method and individually coated with variant patinas ranging from 18-karat gold to sterling silver, and nickel. The process of making the tumbleweeds sculptures includes coating the plant with a material that hardens into a vessel tough enough to receive molten bronze. After the coating dries, the tumbleweed is burned out in a furnace to leave an exquisite detailed impression. Similar to tumbleweeds, Allen collected the tire treads and preserved these unwanted scraps by casting them in bronze and sometimes dipping them in 24-karat gold.
Bale Creek Allen amplifies Texas-Panhandle iconography to create bold visual statements about rural Southwestern life.
Bale Creek Allen's works have been exhibited widely in solo and group exhibitions since 1984 in Austin, Los Angeles, Boston, Fresno, San Antonio, and Santa Barbara. Some of his solo exhibitions are Empire (2007), Tumbleweeds (2004), Natural Selections (2003), New Works (2003), Recent Works (2003), Faith and Superstition (2002), Refrigerated Air (2002). Jesus Christ from East L.A (2002), A Pogo is a Logo (2002), and many more. His artwork "Skin of the White Lady" is permanently installed at Philips Lighting Head Office, Eindhoven, and The Netherlands. Famous collection by Allen are Three-headed Rattlesnake, Head of State, Boxes of Nails, Blood, Sweat, and Tears, Evil Empire Mask, Crucifix, and Jesus Belt. Bale also has performed on stage as male lead and in film, True Stories (1991). He produced a self-titled solo album in 1999 and owns Gallery 68, a 280 square feet space in a funky arts complex on East Martin Luther King Boulevard, Austin, Texas. Austin Chronicle praised his works as "dark, dangerous, evoking the profane logic of superstition and black magic."
Tumbleweeds:
The grace of Austin-based Bale Creek Allen's cast bronze tumbleweed sculptures defies their materiality. Despite the permanence and weight of the bronze, they remain airy and intricate. Each of these tumbleweeds has a different character and surface patina; each was assembled by piecing together the individually cast branches. Some are placed upright, others on their side, lending each a unique personality and also evoking the memory of their presumed movement with the wind. Allen's sculptures are elegantly installed, placed on white pedestals that are scattered throughout the gallery. Mounted on the surrounding walls are montages of images and ephemera printed on sheets of aluminum by James Hill. The black ink on the aluminum gives the images a rich surface that makes the images sing. This stunning show brings together two artists whose divergent works benefit from and enhance each other.
Published courtesy of ArtScene 2010
These unusual 'traditional metal sculptures', cast in bronze; emulate the traditional form of the American West's signifier of choice. It is singularly the contrast between the rigor of the emulated natural form (which evokes the original in spectacular fashion) and the crudeness associated with its means of production. Drawing from this Allen's tumbleweeds evoke aspect of technology and culture, simulation and the human project as a whole. It is perhaps this aspect which inherently fascinates.