Lynne Allen

"As a product of two worlds, I have a longing to merge a double self into a better and truer self. My work has always been about inequity in society, the fact that there is always an 'under dog.' There is danger, there are lies, and there are forgotten truths."
-Lynne Allen

Lynne Allen explores the role of the aggressor and the oppressed from both the individual and collective points of view in her work. Drawing on her Sioux heritage, Allen often uses metaphors to look beneath the surface of our cultural perceptions of identity as well as the exploitation of those who are marginalized, specifically Native Americans. Her images call into question our collective conclusions about the labels we assign and invite the viewer to wonder if the aggressors are the victims of their own need to dominate and torment others.

Allen creates complex, multi-layered imagery that combines diverse materials such as goat skin and Chinese tissue. She employs a wide range of techniques, including lithograph, silkscreen, and intaglio. She states, "As a visual artist, I incorporate the passions that drive me personally into a bigger reality."

Formerly the director of the Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper, Allen is currently Director of the School of Visual Arts at Boston University. Her work has been included in more than a hundred exhibitions in the U.S. and can be found in major collections such as the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, the Library of Congress and the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Tweed Museum of Art in Duluth, Minnesota, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. As a leader in the international print world, Allen has lectured widely in North America as well as in Poland, Estonia, Israel, Russia, Sweden, Jordan, and South Africa. Allen resided in Furlong, Bucks County, before working at Boston University. In 2010, her work was displayed at the Michener Museum in an exhibition entitled Lynne Allen: Nature Morte.

Education and Training
M.F.A. in Painting/Printmaking with a minor in Art History, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1986
Master Printer Certification in Lithography, Tamarind Institute, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1982
M.A. for Teachers, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, 1973
B.S. in Art Education, Kutztown University, Kutztown, Pennsylvania, 1970

Connection to Bucks County
Prior to working at Boston University, Allen lived and worked in Furlong, Bucks County, along with her husband, fellow artist Sergei Tsvetkov.

Solo Exhibitions
Nature Morte, Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 2010
Shortcut to Heaven, Martha Street Studio Gallery, Winnipeg, Canada, 2007
Truth Is Like a Slippery Fish, Society of Northern Alberta Print-Artists, Edmonton, Canada, 2006
Framingham Art Museum, Framingham State College, Framingham, MA, 2003
Excuse Me While I Disappear, Plains Art Museum, Fargo, ND, 2003
Franz Masereel Center, Kasterlee, Belgium, 2001
Interchurch Center, New York, NY, 2000
Knowing/Not Knowing, Hunterdon Museum of Art, Clinton, NJ, 1999
Other People's Diaries, Susan Teller Gallery, New York, NY, 1994

Group Exhibitions
Wording the Image: Pat Steir, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Lynne Allen, and Lesley Dill, Gallery of the College of Staten Island, City University of New York, NY, 2010
Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA, 2009, 2010
Museum of Fine Arts, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, 2009
Novosibirsk Print Triennial, Novosibirsk Museum of Art, Novosibirsk, Russia, 2007, 2009
Peabody Historical Society and Museum, Peabody, MA, 2009
Jewett Gallery, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, 2009
Dangerous Women, Adelphia University, Long Island, NY, 2008
The 51st Chautauqua National Exhibition of American Art, Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua, NY, 2008
Denver Museum of Art Modern and Contemporary Gallery, Denver, CO, 2008
Edmonton Print International, SNAP Gallery, Edmonton, Canada
National Library, Gallery 6, Tallinn, Estonia, 2007
Adamson-Eric Museum, Tallinn, Estonia, 2007
Museum of Modern Art for Wales, Machynlleth, UK, 2007
Back to the Blanket, Urban Shaman Gallery, Winnipeg, Canada
China Sanbao International Printmaking Exhibition, Shanghai University College of Fine Art and the China Academy of Fine Art, Hanzhou, China, 2007
Nathan Cummings Foundation, New York, NY, 2006
Springfield Art Museum, Springfield, MO, 2005
University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan, 2005
Tallinn Print Triennial, Tallin, Estonia, 1998, 2001, 2004
Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY, 2004
University of Nebraska Art Gallery, Lincoln, NE, 2004
New Editions: Prints for an American Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, 2003
Institute of American History Indian Arts Museum, Santa Fe, NM, 2003
The Morris Museum, Morristown, NJ, 2003
6th Triennae Mondiale d'Estampes Petit Format, Chamalieres, France, 2003
Painted Bridge, Philadelphia, PA, 2003
Quadrato di Omega Gallery, Rome, Italy, 2003
Fleischer Memorial Galleries, Philadelphia, PA, 2003
Digital Now (Print National), Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, NY, 2003
UNISA Art Gallery, Pretoria, South Africa, 2003
Weismann Art Museum, Minneapolis, MN, 2003
Amici Dell'arte-Famiglia Artistica, Civic Museum, Cremona, Italy, 2001
Girifalco Fortress, Cortona, Italy, 2001
Tweed Museum of Art, Duluth, MN, 2000
Purdue University Galleries, West Lafayette, IN, 2000
Gray's School of Art, 1999
Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, Scotland, 1998
Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu, HI, 1998
Ministry of Flemish Culture, Kasterlee, Belgium, 1998
Fulbright Association 20th Anniversary Art Exhibit, Washington, D.C., 1997
Bitola '97, International Print Triennial, Bitola, Republic of Macedonia, 1997
Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR, 1997
Sleeth Gallery, West Virginia Wesleyan College, Buckhannon, WV, 1997
21st Ljubljana Print Biennial, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 1995

Permanent Collections
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Museum of Modern Art Library, New York, NY
New York Public Library, New York, NY
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England
Corcoran Museum of Art, Washington, D.C.
Johnson & Johnson Corporate Collection
Noyes Museum, Oceanville, NJ
Newark Public Library, Newark, NJ
Denver Museum of Art, Denver, CO
Frans Masereel Center, Kasterlee, Belgium
Vasteras Kunst Museum, Vasteras, Sweden
Ukraine Museum of Contemporary Art, Ivano-Frankovsk, Ukraine
Macedonian Culture Ministry, Republic of Macedonia
University of New Mexico Art Museum, Albuquerque, NM
University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Kenosha, WI
Ministry of Flemish Culture, Belgium
St. Johns College, Annapolis, MD
McNeese State University, Lake Charles, LA
Purdue University, Purdue, IN
Norton and Nancy Dodge Collection, New Brunswick, NJ
Emory and Henry College, Emory, VA
Tweed Museum of Art, University of Minnesota at Duluth, Duluth, MN
Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, MA
Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MN
University of Georgia Art Museum, Athens, GA
Duke Museum of Art, Durham, NC
Unisa Art Gallery, Pretoria, South Africa
The Plains Art Museum, Fargo, ND
Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, Laurel, MS
Springfield Museum of Art, Springfield, MO
University of Virginia Special Book Collection, McGehee-Lindemann Collection, Charlottesville, VA

Awards & Honors
Marion and Jasper Whiting Fellowship, 2007
Fulbright Scholarship, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan, 2004-2005
Pennsylvania Council on the Arts/Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation Grant, 2004
Leeway Foundation, Window of Opportunity Grant, 2003
Diploma, 12th Tallinn Print Triennial, Tallinn, Estonia, 2001
Finalist, Pew Fellowships in the Arts, Philadelphia, PA, 2001
Ture Bengtze Memorial Prize, Boston, MA, 2001
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Research Grant, 1998, 2001
Tweed Museum of Art, University of Minnesota at Duluth, Purchase Award, 2000
County Government Board of Sodermanland Award, Grafikens Hus, Mariefred, Sweden, 1999
Fulbright Scholarship Alternate, Lecture and Research in New Zealand, 1998
Board of Trustees Research Fellowship Award, Rutgers University, 1995
Purchase Award, Sixty Square Inches, Ninth Biennial, Purdue University Galleries, 1994
Purchase Award, 6th Annual McNeese Works on Paper Exhibition, Lake Charles, LA, 1993
New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State Award, 1992-1993
Fulbright Scholarship, Sorikov Art Institute, Moscow, USSR, 1990