Allen Ball
Professor, Fine Arts
Office: 1-29 Humanities Centre
(780) 492-7653
atball@ualberta.ca
Areas of Teaching and Research
Teaching: Painting and Drawing/Intermedia
Research: painting; drawing; photography and screen-based projects; visual culture; public art
Biography
Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts, London, 1984; MVA, University of Alberta, 1990
Born in London, United Kingdom, Allen completed his undergraduate training at the Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts (achieving First Class Honours in Painting and a commendation in Printmaking). As a Commonwealth Scholar, he graduated from the University of Alberta Master of Visual Arts program. An active visual artist and researcher, Allen has been honoured to receive awards from the Killam Trusts, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and Canada of Council of the Arts, among others, and is a Canadian War Artist, having served in the Sinai Peninsula in 2007. Allen's works can be found in public and private local, national, and international collections, and have been featured in galleries throughout Canada, the United Kingdom, and Korea.
Allen's painting practice is marked by discrete series that arise from conceptual and discursive ideas, particularly relating to subjectivity and representation. Always drawing on personal experiences and resisting a "signature" painting style, he consistently seeks methodologies that realize the crux of conceptual ideas. His projects reference photographic sources, often incorporating visual cultures beyond the Western canon of art, from decorative arts and abstract symbolism to religious iconography. This exploratory approach has driven him to screen-based projects, public art, photography, film, video, and digitally-mediated imagery. Across his works, Allen embraces collaborative opportunities to experience art as a socially intrinsic process.
He is currently Professor of Painting in the Department of Art & Design.
For more information about Allen Ball's projects and research, please visit www.allenball.ca
Recent Research
