Sutton Allen

My recent work in oil painting has been from direct observation. I explore the sensory phenomena of my subjects, hoping to further understand my proximate world. Engaging with a lineage of painters, past and present, I seek to expand the possibilities of painting from direct experience in our contemporary moment.

For me, painting exists in conjunction with life lived, and my subject matter stays in close proximity to this, without denying that an idealism is embedded in everyday life. I am drawn to masses in space and prefer weight to lightness. To mirror nature’s evolutionary forces in my practice, I do not approach a subject with a specific idea, rather I often make several iterations and search for new forms and new questions. Arriving at a tension between certainty and the unknown is the macro concern of my work.

Biography

Sutton Allen is an artist currently located in New York City. Sutton earned his BFA in Painting from Southern Illinois University, and has studied at the New York Academy of Art, NYU, the New York Studio School in 2019 and 2021, and the Mt. Gretna School of Art in Pennsylvania. He received an MFA in painting from the University of Arkansas. He has shown work in solo, group and juried exhibitions in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas.