Mary Macken Allen (b. 1993) received her BA in Fine Art from Wimbledon College of Arts in 2015 and is currently studying on the Turps Studio Programme 2021-23. Her paintings frequently provide moments of intimacy, as Macken Allen is drawn to the ways in which our relationships with others and the environments we inhabit can blur the boundaries that delineate the self. Creating semi-domestic settings that are quasi familiar, yet simultaneously strange, Macken Allen applies thin washes and translucent layers of oil paint.
Solo exhibitions include a solo show entitled ‘Strange Dwellings’ at Thames Side Studios in 2019 and ‘Lost Ground’ at Husk Coffee in 2016.
Group exhibitions include Tomorrow is Tomrrow is Tomorrow; Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London UK (2023); Mood Times Ten, Fitzrovia Gallery, London, UK (2022); 'Uprising', Schloss Görne, Berlin, Germany (2022); West Bund Art Fair, Cub_ism Artspace, Shanghai, China, 2022 (2022); The Smoke, Terrace, London, UK (2021); In Momentum, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London (2021); ‘The Top 100’ at Downstairs Brixton (2021); Of Course , I Haven’t Forgotten!, Curated by Warbling Collective at 155a (2019); Artists Space, London, UK (2019); The A5 Show, Koppel Project Gallery, London (2018); I See Myself There Where I Am Not, Safehouse, London (2018) and Modern Discomfort, Stour Space, London (2018); Perspective on Female Portraiture, The Old Post Office, London (2018).
Highlights and Awards
Mary Macken Allen was picked for the ‘Continuum’, six-month residency at Husk Coffee and Creative Space in 2016.