The Approach is pleased to present new paintings by Phillip Allen. Allen’s paintings are colourful abstractions that combine imaginary patterns and shapes within spaces that can be loosely described as landscapes.  The paintings are an amalgamation of painting techniques; thinly applied light colour is painted on and then scratched and rubbed away, painterly areas of flat colour combined with occasional shadows give the imaginary forms solid presence and heaps of paint gobbets cling to the bottom and top of the boards. These lumps of paint, often squeezed straight from the tube, are an anchor to the light and lively illusions on the board. The thickly applied roses of oil not only add to the playful layering of illusion by resembling sky and ground, but also remind us of the make up of the paintings themselves.

Phillip Allen lives and works in London. Recent solo shows include; PS1, New York  (2003) and Xavier Hufkens Gallery, Brussels (2003). Recent group shows; Kerlin Gallery, Dublin (2003),‘Post Flat: New Art from London’, curated by Barry Schwabsky, Lock’s Gallery, Philadelphia (2003),‘Candyland Zoo’, Herbert Read Gallery, Canterbury (2004) and ‘Stay Positive’, Marella Arte Contemporanea, Milan (2004).