James Allen
James Allen maneuvers through each page of his library, carving out hardcover tomes to create pieces he calls “book excavations.” He weaves an epic poetry that contains histories, each of which can be visible at a glance, without reading a single word. His work has been exhibited at the Bellevue Arts Museum, Morris Museum, Whatcom Museum, Cameron Art Museum, and Brooklyn Central Library and are in special collections at UCLA, Ringling College of Art and Design, John's Hopkins University, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, University of Puget Sound, Baylor University, Swarthmore College, Virginia Commonwealth University, and University of Colorado Boulder.
Solo presentations: Forthcoming, 2027
Group shows: Augie Garrido (Nashville 2026), 8 Poets (Nashville, 2026
See below for selected works and CV.
James Allen
The Old Ball Game, 2026
Book Excavation and Wood Stand
12 x 21.5 x 4.75 in (30.5 x 54.6 x 12.1 cm)
IN12005
Detail: James Allen
The Old Ball Game, 2026
Book Excavation and Wood Stand
12 x 21.5 x 4.75 in (30.5 x 54.6 x 12.1 cm)
IN12005
James Allen
Celestial Librarian, 2025
book excavation
8.5 x 11 in (21.6 x 27.9 cm)
IN10814
James Allen
Medecine #2, 2025
book excavation with wood stand
15.75 x 12.5 x 4 in (40 x 31.8 x 10.2 cm)
IN10808
James Allen
Engineering, 2019
Book excavation (framed)
17 x 23.5 in (43.2 x 59.7 cm)
IN10813
James Allen
Bicycle Poster, 2019
Book excavation
16 x 10.5 in (40.6 x 26.7 cm)
IN9624
Installation view of works by James allen
James Allen CV
Born in Illinois in 1977. Lives and Works in Nashville, TN
EDUCATION
2000 BFA, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, 2000
Solo Exhibitions
2027 ZieherSmith, Nashville, TN
2023 Human/Nature, Russo Lee Gallery, Portland, OR
2021 You Are Living In A Poem, Russo Lee Gallery, Portland, OR
2019 Making New Memories, Russo Lee Gallery, Portland, OR
Booked, Portland International Airport, Portland, OR
2017 Northwest Bound, Russo Lee Gallery, Portland, OR
Book Works: Recent Excavations, Pendleton Center for the Arts East Oregonian Gallery, Pendleton, OR
2016 Anesedora, Kittredge Gallery, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA
2015 Book Excavations, Laura Russo Gallery, Portland OR
2014 Altered Books and Mixed Media, Guardino Gallery, Portland OR
2008 Excavations, Winston Wachter Fine Art, Seattle, WA
2000 How Memory Works, One Nation Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
Lens-Bot, INOVA Gallery, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI
Selected Group Exhibitions
2026 pARTisan, David Lusk Gallery, Nashville, TN
Augie Garrido, ZieherSmith, Nashville, TN
8 Poets, ZieherSmith, Nashville, TN
2022 Flesh and Bones: The Art of Anatomy, Getty Center, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, CA
2020 Cut Up/Cut Out, Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA. Also traveled to Pensacola Museum of Art, Pensacola, FL; Huntsville Museum of Art, Huntsville, AL; Museum of Arts & Sciences, Daytona Beach, FL; Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI; Amarillo Museum of Art, Amarillo, TX; Museum of West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV; Carnegie Arts Center, Turlock, CA; Lamont Gallery at Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, NH (2017-2020)
2018 Paperworks Refolded, City of Brea Art Gallery, Brea, CA
In Bloom, Russo Lee Gallery, Portland, OR
2017 Built, 23 Sandy Gallery, Portland OR
Book Art: A Novel Idea, Morris Museum, Morristown, NJ
2016 This Is Not A Book, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA
Unbound Narrative, Cameron Art Museum, Wilmington, NC
30 Years: New Work By Gallery Artists, Russo Lee Gallery, Portland, OR
Portland Biennial Salon, Disjecta, Portland, OR
Chasing Paper, Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts, Lakewood Center for the Arts, Lake Oswego Oregon
2015 Ten Years of Artists Books, Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn NY
Unhinged: Book Art on the Cutting Edge, Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, WA
Measures of Depth, George Fox University, Newberg, OR
Codex Book Fair, Craneway Pavilion, Richmond, CA
10th Annual Art of the Book, Seager Gray Gallery, Mill Valley, CA
Art MRKT San Francisco Art Fair, Festival Pavilion, Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, CA
2014 Bound and Beyond: Structure in Book Art, UWM Union Gallery, Milwaukee WI
Altered Visions , 23 Sandy Gallery, Portland, OR
Undercover Stories: The Secret Lives of Books, Art Up Front Gallery, Issaqua, WA
2013 Group Show, 23 Sandy Gallery, Portland, OR
Group Show, Outerlands Gallery, Vergennes, VT
2012 Petit Tableaux, Winston Wachter Fine Art, Seattle, WA
2010 Dream, Artist Trust Benefit Auction, Seattle, WA
Dress Envy, Winston Wachter Fine Art, Seattle, WA
Home, The Canoe, Seattle, WA
2009 The Book Borrowers, Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, WA
2007 The Edge of Excess, Foundry Art Center, St. Charles, MO
Seattle Erotic Art Festival, The Fenix, Seattle, WA
Artists Only, Victrola Coffee and Art, Seattle, WA
2006 12th Annual International Exhibition, SOHO 20 Chelsea Gallery, New York, NY
Artfutura 2006: Transformation, The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
2005 Randomness, Chance, and Chaos, OK Hotel, Seattle, WA
Masters Mystery Art Show, Florida International University, Miami, FL
2004 Gravity Racers: 10th Anniversary Show, Pierogi Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2003 Characterism: Pop Art, USA & Japan, Williamsburg Art and Historical Center, Brooklyn, NY
The Brooklyn Painters Show, Brooklyn Working Artists Coalition, Brooklyn, NY
Pier Show 11, Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition, Brooklyn, NY
2002 Pier Show 10, Brooklyn Working Artists Coalition, Brooklyn, NY
2000 Digital Printmaking, Woodland Pattern Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
1999 Parkside National Small Print Exhibition, University of Wisconsin Parkside, Kenosha, WI
Public Collections
UCLA, Louise M Darling Biomedical Library, Los Angeles, CA
UCLA, Fine Art Library, Los Angeles, CA
Johns Hopkins University, Milton S Eisenhower Library, Baltimore, MD
Ringling College of Art and Design, Verman Kimbrough Memorial Library, Sarasota, FL
University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Golda Mier Library, Special Collections, Milwaukee, WI
University of Colorado, Special Collections Library, Boulder, CO
Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA
University of Puget Sound, Collins Memorial Library, Tacoma, WA
Baylor University, Waco, TX
Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
Selected Bibliography
Schneider, Jerry, “Featured Artist,” KXCR 90.7, Florence, OR, July 2020
Miller, Briana, “Now landing at Portland International Airport: Art ‘for comfort and enjoyment,’” The Oregonian, September 22, 2018
Wunnan, Nim, “VizArts Monthly: Big news in various forms,” Oregon ArtsWatch, August 1, 2018
Bolduc, Kaitlyn, “Portland Artist Turning Old Books Into Rare Sculptures,” KPTV, September 6, 2017
Upchurch, Michael, “Cut Up/Cut Out Surprises with Art on the Edge,” Seattle Times, July 14, 2017
Medearis, Caitlin, “Portland’s Book Excavator Scalpels Old Text into Wild Visions,” Portland Monthly, May 16, 2017
Cantor, Allyn, “James Allen: Northwest Bound,” Preview, April-May 2017, p. 56
Cantor, Allyn, Variations: “30 Years/ Mary Josephson: Why I Kept a Light Burning,” Preview, November-January 2016-17, p. 72
Catalogue review for 30 Years; “Exhibition Catalogues of Interest,” Preview, November-January 2016-17, p. 79
“James Allen – Book Excavator,” Portland Interview Magazine, July 7, 2016
“Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts celebrates all things paper,” The Oregonian, May 20, 2016, pp. 24
Hirano, Kori, “James Allen: Book Excavator,” AboutFace, Portland, OR, Spring 2016, p. 70
“Unhinged: Book Art on the Cutting Edge,” Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, WA, exhibition catalog, 60 pp., 2015
Oregon Public Broadcasting, “Oregon Art Beat, Season 17, Episode 1,” October 2015
“Artist on Artist,” Driftwood Magazine, Summer 2015, pp. 46-49
Clark, Jim, “Undercover Stories: The Secret Lives of Books,” Feb 2014
Art Source Portland, Cover Art, 2014
Post, PHOTOS: 7 Stunning Pieces of Book Art, 2013
Chronicle Books, “Art Made From Books: Altered Sculpted, Carved, Transformed,” 2013
Varichio, Louis, “New Art Gallery Opens in Vergennes," Addison Eagle, May 10, 2013
Worssam, Nancy, “Dress Envy is About What Women Wear,” Seattle Times, March 25, 2010
Upchurch, Michael, “'The Book Borrowers: Contemporary Artists Transforming the Book' at BAM,” Seattle Times, February 27, 2009
Shipley, Jonathan, “Breaking Books Open,” City Arts, March 2009
Stone, Deborah, “Quilts, books take center stage at BAM,” NW News, March 9, 2009
Dreger-Babbitt, Danielle, “Book Borrowers exhibition at Bellevue Arts Museum is worth checking out,” Seattle Books Examiner, April 4, 2009