about me
Heather Allen was born in the UK and attained a BA Honours in Fine Art and Art History at Reading University in 1974. After 20 years of full- and part-time teaching art to teenagers, adults and tertiary education students whilst continuing to produce her own work, she studied Combined Media at Chelsea Art School, receiving an MA in 1997. She has been living and working in Berlin since 2006.
Her work includes figurative and non-figurative pieces in the form of paintings, sculptures, drawings, videos, installations and performances.
Her works are part of both public and private collections including Accenture GmbH, Campus Krönberg, the Rhineland-Palatinate Culture Collection, the Department for Science and Art Collection, Frankfurt/Main and the Budapest City Art Collection.
Statement
“My first artistic passion was the human figure; I often felt like a ‘watcher’; I observed how others move, gesticulate, express themselves – and I still do. They are all signs of how people are thinking, feeling, doing what they do, and there I find at least a partial answer as to why.
At university in the ‘70s, abstraction was the thing. So I started making more abstract work, initially based on the figure but I eventually left it behind to work on the implied extensions and movements of objects in space. This repeated switching between non-figurative and figurative is evident in my whole body of work.
When I look back at what I’ve produced, whether from the human body or shapes and forms, it has always been about change, movement, shifting one’s perspective, and discovery; finding a way forward to a deeper self-understanding. Human psychology provides the impetus for the content of these works that I choose to realise in a visual language.”
Heather Allen 2024
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Education
MA, Chelsea College of Art & Design (Fine Art – Combined Media), London
BA Hons., Reading University (Fine Art & Art History)
Grants
2019 Corona work grant, Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Europa, Berlin
2008 Work grant, Berlin Senat
2003 Prizewinner, Frankfurter Verein für Künstlerhilfe e.V.
1997 British Council Study Award
1996 Project grant, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Art, Norwich
Residencies
2012 Ostrava, Czech Cultural Ministry
2005 Frankfurt/Main-Budapest cultural exchange programme
2005 Artist Residency Programme, Galerie Hermann & Wagner, Berlin
2003 Frankfurt-Salzburg cultural exchange programme
2002 Künstlerhaus Schloss Balmoral, Bad Ems
Catalogues
2011 Plastische Werke, BBG, Berlin
2011 The Ideal Man, ArToll, Bedburg-Hau
2011 Art on Lake, Museum of Fine Art, Budapest
2010 Kurt-Kurt, Kurt-Kurt Projektzentrale, Berlin
2010 Dreimaldrei, Römer 9, Frankfurt/Main
2009 Ici Berlin, La Condition Republique, Lille/Roubais
2008 Selected Artists, NGBK, Berlin
2008 Bodenlos, Coma, Frankfurt/Main
2005 Heather Allen, 1822-Stiftung, Frankfurt/Main
2004 Ich will, das Du mir glaubst, 9. Triennale Kleinplastik, Fellbach
2003 Heather Allen, Salon Verlag, Cologne
2002 In Vitro, Künstlerhaus Schloss Balmoral, Bad Ems
2002 Ich sind ganz viele, Künstlerhaus Schloss Balmoral, Bad Ems
1999 Home Abroad, Konstantin Adamopoulos, Frankfurt/Main
1996 Collections and Reflections, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich
1996 Gasworks, Gasworks Gallery, London
1994 Forgotten Present, Tallinn Norwich Kunstikontakt, Ajaloo Institute, Estonia
1992 East and South, Norwich Gallery, Norwich
Collections (selection)
Dr Jean-Christoph Ammann private collection, Frankfurt/Main
Dr Kasper König private collection, Berlin
Dr Klaus Gallwitz private collection, Karlsruhe
Brigitte von Ribbentrop private collection, Frankfurt/Main
Christoph, Graf Douglas private collection, Frankfurt/Main
Accenture GmbH, Campus Krönberg, Taunus
Sammlung Rheinland-Pfalz für Kultur
Sammlung Amt für Wissenschaft und Kunst, Frankfurt/Main
Klostermann Verlag, Frankfurt/Main
Sammlung Advotec, Giessen
de Ligt private collection, Nürnberg
Fellbach City Art Collection
Budapest City Art Collection
Cerwick private collection, Giessen
Dörges private collection, Berlin
Berlin
Berliner Bau Genossenschaft
Solo/two-person shows
2022 Here to there and back – again, Kurt-Kurt Projektzentrale, Berlin
2018 Here to there and back, Projektraum Blah Blah, Berlin
Once upon a Time, with Thomas Henriksson, Projektraum Blah Blah, Berlin
2015 Comin’ round the mountain or what the hell?!, with Katrin Hoffert, Galerie Axel Obiger, Berlin
kurz-kurz in Kurt-Kurt, with Thomas Henriksson, Kurt Kurt Projektzentrale, Berlin
2012 Alius Mundus, Kunsthalle m3, Berlin
2011 Plastische Werke, BBG, Berlin
2009 Climb, Waygood, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
2008 Line up and be, berlin art scouts, Berlin
The House at Egg Stream, Video Space, Galerie Herrmann & Wagner, Berlin
2007 Balcony, Oasenschatten with Jan Philip Scheibe, Kurt-Kurt Projekzentrale, Berlin
Cellar, Pince Galeria, Budapest
Kunstblock 1, Advotec, Giessen
2006 Where is she, and who did the work?, Galerie Perpetuel, Frankfurt am Main
Der Esel ist Tot, with Julia Oschatz, Heimspiel, Frankfurt am Main
2005 What didn’t happen to me in Berlin, ARP, Galerie Hermann & Wagner, Berlin
Heather Allen, Forum-1822, Frankfurt am Main
Heather Allen, Stadt Galerie, Fellbach
2003 Ain’t she sweet…?, Zagreus Projekt, Berlin
2002 Eva und der Teufel, Ausstellungsraum de Ligt, Frankfurt
Tight skin, skin deep, with Vasiliki Ghoti, Mafuji Gallery, London
At Home with Freud, don’t miss, Frankfurt am Main
Raus!, OP31, Frankfurt am Main
Permanent Installation, Amt für Wissenschaft und Kunst, Frankfurt am Main
2001 Heather Allen, Simon Spiekermann Gallery, Dusseldorf
2000 Somewhere else, Wohnraum Kasper König, Frankfurt am Main
1999 Heather Allen, AusstellungsHalle 1A, Frankfurt am Main
1996 Heather Allen, Commercial Gallery, London
Looks, Martha Stevns, Fressingfield
Be the Best…Beat the Rest, with Helen Smith, Waygood Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
1995 Object of Desire, Gasworks Gallery, London
Split, King’s Lynn Art Centre
The Swaffham Collection, Assembly Rooms, Swaffham
Group shows
2023 Faces and Voices, Leize Jenius in the Werkhalle Wiesenburg, Berlin
The Gemini Show, WIRWIR, Berlin
WARSAW>KIN<BERLIN, curated by Elizabeth Sonneck (superbien! Berlin) and Kathryn Zazenski (Stroboskop Warsaw), Milchhof, Berlin
2021 VANREYBER, Werkhalle Wiesenburg, Berlin
2020 Sleep is overrated, Kurt-Kurt Projektzentrale, Berlin
Green, Projektraum Blah Blah, Berlin
2019
INVASIO, Leize Jenius in Projektraum Blah Blah, Berlin
2018 LAZINESS, Na Kashirke Gallery, Moscow
Let’s Hobnob: Turn on, Karens Minde Kulturhus, Copenhagen
2017 LEIZE JENIUS in the Wiesenburg, Werkhalle Wiesenburg, Berlin
2016 Coming all together, Galerie Perpetuel, Frankfurt am Main
2014 Nichts so unbedingt contemporary, Artloft, Berlin
tassewederkommenochfisch, Kunsthalle m3, Berlin
2013 New Artists Group Show, Karin Weber Gallery, Hong Kong
2012 Ortstermin, Galerie Nord/Reformationskirche, Berlin
What I like, curated by Marc Wellmann, Schaufenster, Berlin
Altro Mondo, Casa con Vista, Rome
Friction!, HomeBase, Berlin
2011 Short & Intense II, Kurt-Kurt Projektzentrale, Berlin
Naked Factory, Kunsthalle m3, Berlin
Dirty Fingers, die Wiesenburg, Berlin
Art on Lake, Museum of Fine Art, Budapest
Artworks on Water, Vasarely Museum, Budapest
Nice to see you, Galerie Koeln-Art, Cologne
The Ideal Man, ArToll, Bedburg-Hau
2010 Balmoral Blend, Hans-Arp Museum Rolandseck
Du willst es doch auch, Hase, M3 Kunsthalle, Berlin
3 x 3; Fremde Bewohner, Roemer 9, Frankfurt / Main
2009 Selected Artists, NGBK, Berlin
ICI BERLIN, La Condition Publique, Lille / Roubaix
Configurations, Collyer and Bristow, London
Armella Show Erfurt, Kunsthaus Erfurt
Inselglück, Kunstverein Tiergarten, Berlin
2008 Bodenlos, Coma, Frankfurt am Main
Everybody knows this is nowhere, Galerie Wendt & Friedmann, Berlin
2007 100 Days = 100 Videos, GL Strand, Copenhagen
Inselglück, Kunstverein Tiergarten, Berlin
bas_ART, Saarlaendische Galerie, Berlin
2006 100 Days = 100 Videos, Heidelberger Kunstverein
De(zentral), Kunstverein Giessen
Crazy, Brick 5, Vienna
2004 Extrem, Mousonturm, Frankfurt am Main
9. Triennale Kleinplastik, Alter Kelter, Fellbach
The House at Egg Stream, Heimspiel, Frankfurt am Main
Me, Myself and I, DKB Projektraum, Berlin
2002 Deutsches Eck, Galerie Vaclava Spaly, Prague
Sequences, Kuvataideakatemian Galleria, Helsinki (video programme)
And then there were nine, Fruchthalle, Kaiserslautern
2001 Tafelrunden, Maximilliansforum, Munich (video programme)
Sour Cherry Soup, Mafuji Gallery, London
Art Disco, Plus Gallery, Düsseldorf
2000 Anyone can be almost anyone they want to be, Galerie Brigitte Trotha, Frankfurt am Main
no-site specific, Transit Gallery, London
face-à-face, kunstpanorama, Lucerne
New Visions, Glasgow
1999 Il camino astratto, Change Gallery, Rome (video programme)
Home Abroad, Galerie ak, Frankfurt am Main
1998 HAMKPS, Galerie Thomas Rehbein, Cologne
Frankfurt Art Fair, with Galerie Thomas Rehbein
Adhocracy, Galerie Herold, Bremen
1997 Chelsea 97; 4 Artists, Paton Gallery, London
Collections and Reflections, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Art, Norwich
Connected, Sunderland City Art Gallery
1996/97 Evidence, Ikon Gallery Touring, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham
1996 Forgotten Present, International Visual Art Symposium, Vilnius
Sad, Gasworks Gallery, London
1995 Back Row Bingo, Regal Cinema (disused), Norwich
Abrasion, Visionfest, Liverpool
1994 Tallinnnorwich Kunstikontakt, Ajaloo Institute, Tallinn
1992 East, Norwich Gallery, Norwich