ALLEN JONES         Great Britain   1937 -              "Album" 1971

English painter, sculptor and printmaker Allen Jones studied at Hornsey College of Art, London (1955–61), spending 1959–60 at the Royal College of Art, where he was associated with the rise of Pop Art. Motivated by the theories of Jung and Nietzsche, he began in paintings such as Hermaphrodite to depict fused male/female couples as metaphors of the creative act. While living in New York (1964–5) he discovered a rich fund of imagery in sexually motivated popular illustration of the 1940s and 1950s. Henceforth, in paintings such as Perfect Match he made explicit the previously subdued eroticism, adopting a precise linear style as a means of emphasizing tactility. The full extent of his Pop sensibility emerged in sexually provocative fibreglass sculptures such as Chair (1969; London, Tate), life-size images of women as furniture with fetishist and sado-masochist overtones. Jones group of fibreglass sculptures, of a Hat Stand, Table and Chair were an immediate international sensation when exhibited in 1970 They have been described as emblematic of the spirit of the 1960's. The sculptures took the form of three lifelike mannequins of scantily clad women, either curled up, on all-fours or standing to resemble furniture items. The "fetishist" sculptures were met with strong protests, particularly from feminists, which succeeded in making Jones a cultural hot potato. The Guardian suggested Jones should be prevented from exhibiting the items. When they were displayed at the Institute of Contemporary Arts they were attacked with stink bombs. In the mid 1970s he returned to a more painterly conception in canvases such as Santa Monica Shores (1977) and to a playful stylisation in figure sculptures, notably The Tango, a larger than life-size dancing couple made from polychrome steel plate. Lithography, in which his output was prolific, proved an appropriate medium for his graphic flair. Among his publications are Figures (Milan, 1969) and Projects (London, 1971), the latter title including his designs for stage, film and television.