Thomas Allen

I don’t write fan letters often. In fact, I can count them on one finger. Yet, a few months ago, I visited Foley Gallery in Chelsea for the latest exhibit from Thomas Allen. I was so blown away by his latest and (final!?!) series that I had to let him know how much I appreciated the art. He mentioned that his creations are inspired by pop-ups so I thought it only fitting to take a piece of his full circle and make a pop-up out of one of his images.



Allen is one of my favorite artists and it’s not hard to see why I’m head over heels for his work. He cuts and manipulates old pulp book covers into arresting compositions and then photographs them with selective focusing and great lighting. I first learned about his work when the studio received a copy of the great Uncovered book from Aperture in 2007, and I have been following the artist ever since.

The cut paper…the dime-store detective novels…the clever arrangements…it’s like the work is genetically engineered to appeal to many of my diverging interests. I cannot wait to see what Thomas Allen decides to do next!

-Kyle