The exhibition State of the Art: Discovering American Art Now opening Sept. 13 at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Ark., will feature work by 102 artists from all over the country, including WSU fine arts alum (2001) Joel S. Allen.
The president and curator of Crystal Bridges interviewed Allen earlier this year as part of their search for the most compelling American art being created today.
Five of Allen’s sculptures from his ongoing series Hooked on Svelte will be included in State of the Art. He works with twine, yarn, wine corks, pill bottles, wood, copper, irrigation tubing, acrylic sheeting, paper pulp and rubber to create large-scale hanging fiber sculptures.
Allen works full-time as a practicing artist while also teaching part time at Colorado Mountain College in Steamboat Springs, and credits much of his success to the extraordinary faculty within the Department of Fine Arts, especially Professor Emeritus Jack Dollhausen.