Greg Allen, “Union Pacific EMD SD 45 7521 Working the Sparks, Nevada Yard, c.1996.” Oil on canvas, 48X24″, 2022
We are thrilled to present a solo exhibition by Reno painter Greg Allen in the Holland Project Gallery from Sept. 5th – Oct. 6th, 2023. Greg was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1961, into an artistically and intellectually gifted family. As a child Greg drew prodigiously, and after high school he pursued a passion for technical rock climbing and earned a living as a freelance illustrator. Greg relocated to Reno, Nevada in 1988, where he performed as a vocalist in a local band. He was seriously injured in 1994. While recuperating, Greg began the lifelong process of teaching himself to paint. His work immediately attracted the attention of collectors, and through word-of-mouth sales, commissions, and gallery representation, he has sold over 700 paintings.
Greg Allen’s paintings have been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in businesses, galleries and museums in Nevada, California, and New Mexico, including the Santa Fe Museum of Modern Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico; the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno, Nevada; the Las Vegas Art Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada; the Cydnie Maiss Gallery in Reno, Nevada; the Frank Hill Gallery in Reno, Nevada; Sun Mountain Artworks in Virginia City, Nevada; the Western Nevada Community College Art Gallery, in Fallon, Nevada; Galleries Cui-ui and the River Gallery in Reno, Nevada; and most recently at the Holland Project in Reno, Nevada. His work is in many private collections throughout the United States, Europe, and South America.
ARTIST STATEMENT | My paintings capture a sense of place and time, the American West and the Age of Oil. The roadside motels and diners, gas stations and vehicles that fuel my depictions are the iconic outposts of a previous century. In the spare landscape and small towns of the west, post World War 2 architecture, signage and design are rendered as monoliths, deifying America at the heights of its power. My work is a celebration of a time before planned obsolescence, the last vestiges of craftsmanship and things well made in a country then still racing to put the first man on the moon. I paint monuments to places rapidly disappearing in the rush toward urban renewal, a memento mori of a bygone era.
A Certain Quality of Light: Paintings from the Desert West will be on view September 5th – October 5th, with an Opening Reception on Friday, Sept. 8th from 5-8PM. Gallery hours are Tues. – Fri. 12-6PM. or by appt. Appointments can be made by contacting galleries@hollandreno.org.
Explore the HP Gallery:
Archive | Flickr Page | Curator Series | Upcoming Art Events