ALLEN BENTLEYOF WATER AND MOTION

EXHIBIT A / 2012

Sponsored by: AJ’s Hair Make-Up, Corning NY

ALLEN BENTLEYOF WATER AND MOTION

SEPTEMBER 21 - OCTOBER 28, 2012

A.J. Fratarcangelo / AJ’s Hair, Make-up

Bridget Mayer Gallery

Corning’s Gaffer District

Louise Richardson

Maria Holbein

Sean Lukasik

Mary Hickey

Peter Olausson

Barry Nicholson

Curtis Hameister

THANK YOU:

EXHIBIT A CONTEMPORARY ART

Exhibit A is a contemporary art venue located in the Gaffer District of Corning, New York.

Exhibit A features changing exhibitions throughout the year in its Market Street gallery, represents a stable of artists, and facilitates public art projects and experimental events through Exhibit A Projects.

Exhibit A41 East Market StreetCorning, New York 14830

exh-a.com

EXHIBIT A:

Allen Bentley received his B.F.A. with a concentration in painting, drawing, and printmaking from Western Carolina University in 1996 and received his M.F.A. from the University of Pennsylvania in 2000. He has held solo exhibitions of his works at a number of spaces including Melanee Cooper Gallery (Chicago, IL), Philadelphia Museum of Art (Philadelphia, PA), Phoenix Gallery (New York, NY), City Lights Gallery (Cullowhee, NC), and 171 Cedar Art Center’s Houghton Gal-lery (Corning, NY) among many others. His pieces have also been featured in prominent publications such as Art Matters Magazine, Lifestyle Magazine, Phila-delphia Inquirer, and Where Chicago. Allen Bentley is represented by Bridgette Mayer Gallery in Philadelphia

BIO:

A fluidity of marks, of movement, of the slippery dynamics of relationship, love. Intimacy and connection have been at the heart of my work for years. In the past I have explored these themes through dancers and wrestlers, couples swing dancing or engaged in a pillow fight: it is all the same to me. We, as people, are bound to the ones we love: we circle one another, we flirt, we pursue, we play, we cry, we want from another. My work has used dancing and playing couples to explore these dynamics. Years ago, I made a group of paintings called the Water Series. During my first year of marriage, I convinced my young wife to sit, swim, and roll through a cold mountain stream while I painted her from shore. Why water? To me, water is the perfect metaphor for love: all-encompassing and powerful. In water/in love, a wave can carry or drown you, but the currents are so irresistible you ignore the concerns from your lungs about breathing. In water/in love, there is nothing else: any other voices are silenced in the enveloping quiet. And in that drowning/flying silence, bodies reach for each other – that is the moment I seek. This is the relationship of a couple stripped of the social constructs of dance. There is no audience, only these two, raw and unpolished, losing their footing, tumbling, falling, reaching for each other, pulled apart or pushed together by the water.

My markmaking has always been fluid. Sliding, running from hand to paper, to canvas: hand to form. Marks find, describe form, around form as water surrounds surface. This new series gives my hand room to play. The abstraction found underwater matches my natural markmaking inclinations, providing me a level of abstraction that I haven’t allowed myself in my recent work. At its core, this new series goes back to that initial inspiration from early in my career. Here the couple is submerged, out of sorts, upside down, completely im-mersed: in love. The Water Series is a love story.

Allen Bentley

STATEMENT:

ALLEN BENTLEY / WATER SERIES

Tidal Forces, 2012Oil on canvas24 x 36”

Under the Wake, 2012Oil on canvas24 x 24”

Below the Swirl 2012Oil on canvas24 x 24”

Swept Away, 2011Oil on canvas48 x 66”

Swept, 2011Oil on blue paper30 x 22”

Stir, 2012Oil on canvas32 x 60”

Beneath the Ripples, 2012Oil on linen24 x 36”

Falling Down, 2012Oil on canvas60 x 48”

Embracing the Currents, 2012Oil on canvas24 x 58”

Circling Round, 2011Oil on canvas48 x 66”

ALLEN BENTLEY / DANCERS

Crackle, 2010Oil on panel7 x 5”

Crinkle, 2010Oil on panel6 x 6”

Electric, 2010Oil on panel6 x 6”

Tidal Forces, 2012Oil on canvas24 x 36”

Touch, 2010Oil on panel10 x 10”

Hoop, 2010Oil on canvas8 x 8”

Flounce, 2010Oil on canvas8 x 8”

RESUME:

ALLEN BENTLEYBORN: 1972, Charlotte, N.C.

EDUCATION:M.F.A. University of Pennsylvania, 2000B.F.A. Cum Laude, concentration in Painting, Drawing, Printmaking, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee NC,1996

SOLO EXHIBITIONS:

Of Water and Motion, Exhibit A Contemporary Art, Corning NY, September, 2012The Water Series, Bridgette Mayer Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, June, 2012Pursuit, Alamance County Arts Council, Graham, NC, January, 2011Roundabout, Exhibit A Contemporary Art, Corning, NY, October, 2009Turning Swiftly Through, The Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, Wilmington, DE, August, 2009Extravagance! Bridgette Mayer Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, October, 2008Heat, Melanee Cooper Gallery, Chicago, IL, February, 2008Chasing, 171 Cedar Arts Center, Corning, NY, April, 2007Tempting, Bridgette Mayer Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, February, 2007Tempting, Bridgette Mayer Gallery- New Hope, New Hope, PA, February, 2007Flirt, Melanee Cooper Gallery, Chicago, IL, May, 2006Sensing the Rhythm, Philadelphia Airport, Terminal B, Philadelphia, PA, April, 2005Wild Ride, Bridgette Mayer Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, February, 2005New Paintings, Atrium Gallery, Corning Community College, Corning, NY, February, 2005Dueling Overhead, ArtWorks, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA, 2003Lead And Follow, Bridgette Mayer Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, October, 2002New Work, Phoenix Gallery, New York, NY, 2001Heads & Heresy, Meyerson Gallery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 1999Experiences, City Lights Gallery, Cullowhee NC 1999

SELECTED JURIED EXHIBITIONS:

First Annual Juried Exhibition, Sylvia White Gallery, Ventura, CANew American Paintings, Curator: Alex Baker, Open Studios Press, Boston, MA 2006Artists of Philadelphia, Blue, Surf City, NJ, 2005Art of the State: Pennsylvania 2003 - State Museum, Harrisburg, PA 2003National Spring Open Juried Exhibition, Juror: Sam Hunter, Wayne Art Center,Ethel Sergeant Clark Smith Gallery, Wayne, PA 2001New Directions, Jurors: Claudia Gould, Christine Filippone, Gary SangsterMainline Art Center, Haverford, PA 2001Young Talent Show, Washington Art Association, Washington Depot, CT 2001National Spring Open Juried Exhibition, Juror: Barbara Grossman, Wayne Art Center,Ethel Sergeant Clark Smith Gallery, Wayne, PA 2001MFA Thesis Exhibition,Curator: Claudia Gould, Clay Studio Annex, Phila, PA 2000Philadelphia Prize Exhibition, Claire Oliver Fine Art, Philadelphia, PA 2000Juried Group Exhibition, La Terrasse, Philadelphia, PA 1999Associated Artists of Winton-Salem’s Southeastern Spectrum, Winston-Salem NC 1998“Ten Artists, Ten Thousand Dollars”, Invitational Group Exhibition/Fund Raiser, Asheville Art Museum, Asheville NC1996

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS:

Group Show Benefit , Bridgette Mayer Gallery, Philadelphia, PA 2010Group Show Benefit , Bridgette Mayer Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, June, 2009Philadelphia Collects: Works on Paper, Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, Wilmington, DE, September,2008Bridgette Mayer Gallery Group Show, Tierney Communications, Philadelphia, PA, May, 2008Black and White, Bridgette Mayer Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, December, 2007Gallery Artist Group Show, Bridgette Mayer Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, July, 2007Fever, Susan Street Fine Art Gallery, Solana Beach, CA, April, 2007The Red Show, Bridgette Mayer Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, December, 2006Firecracker, Bridgette Mayer Gallery, New Hope, PA, 2006Inaugural Group Show, Bridgette Mayer Gallery, New Hope, PA, 2006Bridgette Mayer Gallery Group Show, Tierney Communications, Philadelphia, PA, 2005The Annual Ithaca Artists Invitational Show, Upstairs Gallery, Ithaca NY, 2004Bridgette Mayer Gallery Group Show, Tierney Communications, Philadelphia, PA 2004Drawing As Drawing, Drawing in Painting, Olmsted Gallery, Penn State Harrisburg, Middletown, PA, 2003New Works, Bridgette Mayer Gallery, December, 2002Faculty Exhibition, The Galleries at Moore, Philadelphia, PA, 2002Faculty Exhibition, Chester Springs Art Studio, Chester Springs, PA, 2002Young & Fun: On Paper, Bridgette Mayer Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, January 2001Contemporary Philosophies , Bridgette Mayer Gallery, Philadelphia, PA 2001Faculty Exhibition, C-7 Gallery, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Interlochen, MI 2000

HONORS:

2nd Prize, National Juried Exhibition, Phoenix Gallery, New York, NY, 2001Juror’s Choice Award, National Spring Open Juried Exhibition, Wayne Art Center,Ethel Sergeant Clark Smith Gallery, Wayne, PA, 2001Finalist, Philadelphia Prize Exhibition, Claire Oliver Fine Art, Philadelphia, PA, 2000College of General Studies Teaching Fellowship, University of Pennsylvania, 1999Dean’s Merit Scholarship, University of Pennsylvania, 1998

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Donohoe, Victoria. “His Men and Women Step Lively.” Philadelphia Inquirer, August 28, 2009.Donohoe, Victoria. “Capturing the Dance.” Philadelphia Inquirer, October 24, 2008.“Featured- Allen Bentley: Heat.” Where Chicago, February 2008.Toscano, Kendra. “Dancing with Allen Bentley.” Lifestyle Magazine, February 2007.Strauss, R.B. “Chock full of Goodies.” The Weekly Press, January 31, 2007.“Of Note: Allen Bentley.” Where Philadelphia , January 2007.“Happenings.” Art Matters Magazine, February 2007.Fallon, Roberta. the artblog. “Dancing, wrangling and finances.” the artblog, www.artblog.com, February 2005.“Happenings.” Art Matters Magazine, January 2005.Slupe, Ellen. “Art of the State in Harrisburg.” Art Matters Magazine, August 2003.Donohoe, Victoria. “Art of the State Shows Regional Talent.” Philadelphia Inquirer, July 2003.Lewis, Zachary. “State of the Arts.” Patriot News , Harrisburg, PA, June 2003.Fallon, Roberta. “Dance Fever.” Philadelphia Weekly, October 2002.Hill, Lori. “First Friday Focus.” Philadelphia City Paper, October 2002.Brakeman, Mark. “Over 100 Artists at 915.” Weekly Press, November 2001.Strauss, R.B. “A New Exhibition Makes A Strong Impression.” Avon Sun Grove, September 2001.Donohoe, Victoria. “Main Line Art Center.” Philadelphia Inquirer, April 2001.

SELECTED COLLECTIONS:Tierney Communications, Philadelphia, PAThe Fox School of Business at Temple University, Philadelphia, PAThe Lofts at Logan View, Philadelphia, PAThe AYER, Philadelphia, PAThe University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PAWestern Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC