Jim Allen, Kiwi Conceptual Artist, Dies At 100
Jim Allen, Poetry for Chainsaws (1976 / 2006). Live performance with chainsaws. Courtesy Michael Lett.
Jim Allen, who was a stalwart of New Zealand conceptual and performance art, passed away on 9 June. Michael Lett, who represents the artist, announced the news today.
‘His legacy as an arts educator, both here and in Australia, lives on in the generations of artists who have taken inspiration from his relentless sculptural innovations and dedication to the teaching and learning of artistic practice’, Lett said in a statement.
Critic and writer Wystan Curnow praised Allen’s work at Elam School of Fine Arts in the 1960s, making the institution ‘a hothouse which brought contemporary art in New Zealand up to speed internationally.’
Known for his experiential sculptures such as Small Worlds (1969) and performances such as Computer Dance (1974), and News (1976), Allen advanced the development of post-object practices in Auckland and Sydney art education institutions.
Allen turned 100 last year, a milestone that was marked by his daughter Ruthe Allen performing his work Poetry for Chainsaws (1976), a recitation of Allen Ginsberg’s poem Howl (1956) for three chainsaws that roar and vibrate around the room until they run out of fuel.
The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi, who named Allen an Arts Foundation Icon Whakamana Hiranga in 2015, described the artist in an Instagram eulogy as ‘an incredibly special person and artist’ and, ‘one of the most influential arts educators of his generation’.
The foundation described the Icon awards as a celebration of artists who have shaped a collective sense of identity and whose work is transformative.
‘Jim very much fit the bill, and we are deeply grateful to him for sharing his gift with Aotearoa’, the foundation said. —[O]
Main image: Jim Allen, Poetry for Chainsaws (1976 / 2006). Live performance with chainsaws. Courtesy Michael Lett.
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