Terry Allen
PLAYING LA JOLLA (for all it's worth), 2015
7611 Fay Avenue
Terry Allen's mural, Playing La Jolla (for all it's worth), is a photographic collage incorporating both the artist's personal biography and site specificity. The various elements work in tandem as the motion of hands playing piano mimic the musical nature of the ocean and waves. Allen is equally accomplished as both a visual artist and a musician, so the image can be viewed as a self portrait, with the artist's hands descending from above to "play La Jolla". The combination of text, the human presence and elements both naturalistic and man-made creates a expressive interplay between a variety of disparate but interconnected worlds.
Terry Allen is a visual artist, musician and playwright. Born in 1943, Terry Allen was raised in Lubbock, Texas. He earned a BFA from Chouinard Art Institute, Los Angeles, CA in 1966. Eschewing terminologies and aesthetic boundaries, Allen masterfully and seamlessly wields music, visuals and performance into a singular language of expression. With a career spanning five decades, he has been the recipient of many awards and honors, including fellowships from the Guggenheim and the National Endowment for the Arts. He was recognized as a United States Artist Oliver Fellow and inducted into the Buddy Holly Walk of Fame.
His art has been shown throughout the United States and Europe, and is represented in major public collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY; Museum of Modern Art, NY; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Allen has recorded over a dozen albums of original music, including the classics Juarez, Lubbock (on everything) and Salivation, and has written songs for artists such as David Byrne and Lucinda Williams. Allen lives and works in Santa Fe, New Mexico and Austin, Texas.
13' x 48' 8"
Wall Sponsor: Stacy Jacobs
Photos by Philipp Scholz Rittermann