DELANEY ALLEN // getting lost

On view October 11 - November 17, 2014
Opening reception Friday, October 10 (6-8 p.m.)
This will be Nationale’s inaugural exhibition at 3360 SE Division

From transportive natural vistas to staged studio tableaux, the enigmatic scenes on view within Delaney Allen’s exhibition Getting Lost at Nationale trace a personal, yet familiar, journey. After experiencing multiple deaths and sorrows, Allen felt isolated within grief. However, inspired by passages from Rebecca Solnit’s A Field Guide to Getting Lost, he sought solace from the stasis of his past amidst the unrestrained present of the road.

Upon first glance, Allen’s photographs from this process reflect the indoctrinated spirit of American exploration- Manifest Destiny, Ansel Adams, On the Road. However, prolonged examination reveals a more peculiar symbolism. The magnificent peaks and ethereal skies, alongside his experiments with synthetic light, color, and texture, are haunted by a bodily presence. Everyday rock accumulations and peculiar plant growths assume traces of the human hand while still-lifes of kitschy fabric and sculptural talisman emerge as chaotic altars to bygone loves. While Allen can never return to the specific moments or spirits captured within each image, he appears to learn to accept such loss through the controlled construction of photographic memories. As Solnit explains, “...the art is not one of forgetting but letting go.”

BIO
Born in Fort Worth, TX, Delaney Allen received his MFA from the Pacific Northwest College of Art in 2010. His photographs have been shown nationally and internationally. He was listed in Magenta’s Flash Forward emerging photographers list of 2013 and attended photographer Alec Soth’s Camp For Socially Awkward Storytellers that same year. Allen currently lives and works in Portland, OR, where he is represented by Nationale.

PRESS
Included in John Motley's November gallery preview for The Oregonian
Jon Feinstein on Getting Lost for Humble Arts Foundation