Allen Jones

Allen Jones, a British artist known for his controversial work in pop art aesthetic and sexual imagery, is recognized as a painter, sculptor, and lithographer.

Biography of Allen Jones

Allen Jones was born in 1937 in Southampton. He attended the Royal College of Art alongside David Hockney, Peter Phillips, and R. B. Kitaj but was expelled after only one year. Nonetheless, he was featured in the influential 1961 "Young Contemporaries" exhibition, which marked the beginning of the English Pop Art Movement.

After relocating to New York in the mid-1960s, Jones delved into fetishistic, erotic, and transgressive imagery. In 1970, he introduced his first set of fiberglass sculptures, which included life-size female mannequins positioned in sexually exploitative poses, titled "Hat Stand, Table, and Chair." These works garnered sharp criticism and provoked outrage from feminists and contemporary critics, consistently sparking protests and attacks when exhibited in the subsequent decades.

During the 1980s and 1990s, he maintained a consistent presence in painting and printmaking, and more recently, he ventured into creating large-scale steel sculptures for public spaces, including Taikoo Place in Hong Kong.

Jones has held solo exhibitions at major UK institutions such as the Barbican Art Gallery, the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, and the Institute of Contemporary Art in London, among others. Since 2008, a dedicated room showcasing his watercolors has been featured at the Royal Academy of Arts, which also hosted his retrospective in 2014.

Allen Jones was elected a Royal Academician in 1986 and received an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from Southampton Solent University. Despite the controversies and condemnations, his works have commanded impressive prices, with versions of "Hat Stand, Table, and Chair" selling for $2.8 million in 2013.

The artist lives and works in London, England.

Allen Jones' Art Style

The Cass Sculpture Foundation remarked on Jones' artistic approach, noting that his painted forms on a flat canvas take on a sculptural quality, while his three-dimensional creations possess painterly attributes. His adept use of color to convey form, sometimes with meticulous graphic precision and alternately with the dynamic freedom of expression, has been compared to "direct expression."

Similar artistic progressions are observable in his printmaking endeavors. The Tate has labeled his output in lithography as "prolific," finding the medium to harmonize well with his graphic flair. Various artists and influential figures in pop fashion, including Alexander McQueen, Issey Miyake, and Richard Nicoll, have acknowledged Jones' influence on their styles.

Jones has gained recognition for infusing his works with erotic imagery, such as rubber fetishism and BDSM. This facet of his artistry has consistently attracted attention from art critics and the press. While Jones' repertoire includes musicians, dancers, and urban scenes like London buses, his name is particularly associated with his depictions of kinky fetish women, whether rendered in two or three dimensions.