Jack Allen: Belts

On display at JAXPORT Gallery: Feb. 23 - Mar 30, 2012

Jack Allen: Belts will be the featured exhibition at the JAXPORT Gallery from February 23 - March 30, 2012. Jack's Belt series paintings highlight brilliant "belts" of vivid colors that flow through the landscape of each painting. These paintings accentuate a visually complex textural ebb and flow. Upon close inspection, the surfaces are actually physically flat. The unifying feature of each painting is exuberant, beautiful color.

Jack Allen
My abstract paintings visually embody how I see the world today and how I want to see the world - vast in size, vibrant in color, and ambiguous in interpretation. For me, painting is an equilibrium point of contemplation and energy. Intriguing, dynamic and complex, my paintings combine deliberate, gestural applications of striking colors and sculptural depth that either jar or appease the viewer's eye. My work is my response to penetrating, challenging questions that I ask of myself. Working in a variety of media, my paintings are my reaction to the world around me. Hopefully, my paintings will provide provocative experiences and remind viewers of the universal questions that resonate within us all.

John J. (Jack) Allen grew up in Winter Park, Florida and has resided in Jacksonville, Florida for over 25 years.  Enamored with abstract art, Allen began painting more than a decade ago when he experimented with his teenage daughter's art supplies on a Saturday morning at home.

"I loved it. And there went the world, spinning, as they say," says Allen, who was raised to believe sports were more important than the arts. "I love the intrigue. Bringing out my energy and emotions with colors. I like scale and bright bold colors and the movement. I like creating paintings that cause the eye to wander around the canvas." (Source: Florida Times Union)

Describing painting as his great companion, Allen works in his third-floor home studio, in a barn at his cattle farm in central Florida, and in a storefront retail space in a friend's shopping center.

Self-taught for the most part, his creative evolution has included devouring images of abstract works by favorite artists including: Mark Rothko, Gerhard Richter and Jean-Paul Riopelle.

"I hope to tell a story through each of my paintings - a story of hope, possibility and excitement. My paintings are a reflection of my feelings expressed through colors, lines, forms, movement and depth." ~  Jack Allen

In addition to his creative calling, Allen has been a successful business leader in Florida for over 20 years. Allen founded Allen Land Group in 1994 in order to provide specialized brokerage services and development expertise to owners of raw land. He serves as President of the company.

For additional information and/or images, please contact Meredith Fordham Hughes by email or by phone at (904) 357-3052.

About JAXPORT Gallery

Located on the first floor of JAXPORT Headquarters, the Gallery features local artists rotating on a bi-monthly basis. JAXPORT Gallery is open during normal JAXPORT Headquarters hours and admission is free. Learn more about JAXPORT and the Arts.