Allison Sommers

Allison Sommers is a Brooklyn-based artist working primarily in gouache. She creates complicated, intricate, uncomfortable worlds of meat, vegetation, and birds and beasts of various sizes. She graduated from the University of Virginia with a BA in History and a concentration in Early Medieval England.

Allison grew up an only child with an abundance of pets and a sense of reality grounded in make-believe. Being constantly surrounded by animals led her to develop a skewed concept of personhood that now extends into her work: humanoid animals, beasts, and even inanimate objects and foods take on an agency and interact with her worlds. Her work is intentionally vague, both conceptually and morally, and hints at underlying narrative structure without providing clear artist-authorship to guide the viewer through. It is work that combines technical excellence in a difficult medium with motifs of vagueness, ambiguity, and discomfort.

Abbreviated CV

Solo Shows & Features
2012
"Potter's Field"—Project Room Solo —January 7, 2012 //Thinkspace Gallery, L.A., CA

2010
"Schlaraffenland"— Solo — May 7, 2010 // Thinkspace Gallery, L.A., CA

2009
“A Brief History”— Project Room Solo — May 2009 //Thinkspace Gallery, L.A., CA

2008
“Waterways”— “Fresh Faces” wall solo—August 2008 //Project Room, Thinkspace, L.A., CA

2007
“Beasts of Burden” — June 08, 2007 //Thinkspace Gallery, L.A., CA

Group Shows
2013
"The Animal In Me" — February 15, 2013 //Subtext Gallery, San Diego, CA

2012
"Gallery 1988 meets Adult Swim" —January 13, 2012 //Gallery 1988, Melrose, CA

G40 Art Summit — April 6, 2012 // Richmond, VA

"Synergy" Thinkspace-curated show — May 3, 2012 //Spoke Art, San Francisco, CA

"Linearity" — June 9, 2012 //Mint Gallery, Atlanta, GA

"Wasted!" — June 9, 2012 //WWA Gallery, L.A., CA

First Friday Art Murmur — July 7, 2012 //Zerofriends, Oakland, CA

"Crazy 4 Cult" NY— August 2012 //TBA, NY, NY

"Blood" — August 2012 //WWA Gallery, L.A., CA

"Signs of the Apocalypse" — August 3, 2012 //My Plastic Heart, NY, NY

"Milk" — November 4, 2012 //Fine Grime, UK

"Don't Wake Daddy" — December, 2012 //Feinkunst Krüger, Hamburg, Germany

2011

"School Open House" —November 11, 2011 //Subtext Gallery, San Diego, CA

"Spirit Animal" —November 2011 //White Rabbit Gallery, NY, NY

"Sink or Swim" —September 23, 2011 //Spoke Art Gallery, San Francisco, CA

“Tribute To Old-School Video Games” —September 16th, 2011 //Gallery1988 LA, L.A., CA

"Dig For Fire: Art Inspired By The Pixies" —September 9, 2011 //C.A.V.E art gallery, Venice, CA

Thinkspace-curated show —September 5, 2011 //University of Arizona Museum

"Memento Mori" —August 20, 2011 //Modern Eden Gallery, San Francisco, CA

"The New Surrealism: A Collection of Strange" —July 16, 2011 //Modern Eden Gallery, San Francisco, CA

"Friends" —July 16, 2011 //Art Gallery, Norfolk, VA

“Crazy 4 Cult 5”—July 8, 2011 //Gallery1988 LA, L.A., CA

Thinkspace Pop-Up Show @ Culver City Art Walk —June 4 - 11, 2011 // Thinkspace, L.A., CA

"LAX to PDX" —March 31, 2011 //Together Gallery, Portland, OR

“Song of the Sirens” —March 2011 //Last Rites Gallery, N.Y., NY

2010
"Fifth Anniversary"–November // Thinkspace Gallery, L.A., CA

“Things to Come...”—September 9, 2010 //Bold Hype Gallery, N.Y., NY

“Love Conquers All: Art for Equality”—August 2010 //Thinkspace Gallery, L.A., CA

“Crazy 4 Cult”—July 6, 2010 //Gallery1988 LA, L.A., CA

“Love Crafts: Artwork inspired by Monsters, Madness, and Mythos”—June 11, 2010
//Observatory Room, Brooklyn,

“The Next Generation”—June 3, 2010 //London Miles Gallery, London, UK

“A Cry for Help”: A special benefit show for the endangered species of the world
Presented by Born Free USA— January 8 — February 5, 2010 //Thinkspace Gallery, L.A., CA

2009
“Futurity” with Thinkspace Gallery at Aqua Art Miami— December 3 - December 6, 2009 //Art Basel Miami, Miami, Florida

"Monsters" —September 11 - November 4, 2009 //PVCC, Charlottesville, VA

"Bipolar" —August 29, 2009 //Exhibit A Gallery, L.A, CA

“Kokeshi: From Folk Art to Art Toy” — July 11 - October 4, 2009 //Japanese-American National Museum, L.A., CA

“Some Kind of Wonderful”— February 6 - 28, 2009 //Gallery1988, San Francisco, CA

“Delineations” — January 16 - February 15, 2009 //Ad Hoc Art, N.Y., NY

2008
“Infinity Squared”— December 12, 2008 //Distinction Gallery, Escondido, CA

“Looking Glass” with Thinkspace Gallery at Gen Art Vanguard New Contemporary Art Fair— December 4 - December 7, 2008 //Art Basel Miami, Miami, Florida

“Cover Band”—October 7, 2008 //Gallery1988, L.A., CA

“And One To Grow On”—May 20, 2008 //Gallery1988, L.A., CA

“Fight for Flight”: A Benefit Show for the API in honor of National Bird Day — January 2008 //Thinkspace Gallery, L.A., CA

2007
“Tinyshop”— November 2007 //Double Punch Gallery, San Francisco, CA

“Picks of the Harvest” — November 2007 //DvA Gallery, Chicago, IL

“Paper Pushers” — October 2007 //Gallery1988 San Francisco, CA

“Untitled Love Project” Group Show — August 03, 2007 //Thinkspace Gallery, L.A., CA