Jonathan Allen was born on 1966 currently lives and Works in London.Allen’s fictitious ‘gospel magician’ persona presents a heady mix of Christian evangelism and glitzy magic showmanship. Described by one observer as ‘a meeting of Billy Graham and David Copperfield via Donald Rumsfeld’, Tommy Angel preens before his audiences, a brutal and narcissistic miracle worker deploying suspect wonders with casual ease. Allen recasts iconographical conventions such as the Beheading of John-the-Baptist, Madonna and Child, and The Baptism of Christ against a dark political landscape - with the West fixated on Islamic fundamentalism, he satirises fundamentalism’s Christian face.

In the case of Tommy Angel #4 (2005), the implication of such concerns is carefully layered. Set against a black-out curtain, a ‘headless’ performer proffers a silver platter, upon which appears to rest the self-decapitated head of Tommy Angel. In composition, the image bears an uncanny resemblance to Christian depictions of John the Baptist’s beheading, particularly to those that took the form of theatrical miracles, as commonly enacted in the tradition of the European medieval mystery plays.Together these references interrogate the ways in which visual and religious truths have relied on the effects of stage-crafted illusion to illustrate information for deceptive gain. While Allen’s work self-consciously foregrounds this stirring relationship, it simultaneously parodies how the potential for deception finds usage in the hands of today’s evangelical preachers and crusading politicians.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2006
• 1st Singapore Biennale, exhibition, Singapore
• Tommy Angel putpocketing performance, Singapore
• Tommy Angel, David Risley Gallery, London

2005
• Tommy Angel, David Risley Gallery, London
• Tommy Angel performance for Duckie, Vauxhall Tavern, London
• Tommy Angel performance, Corsica Arts Club

2004

• Tommy Angel for Eyes, Lies, Illusions, Cafe de Paris
• Tommy Angel performance in assoc. with Hayward Gallery & Cafe de Paris, London

1998
• Feint solo exhibition, Deutsche Bank, New York
• Second Truths solo exhibition, Site Gallery, Sheffield

1997
• The Float in the Sight of Things solo exhibition, Ferens Gallery, Hull , Barcelona

1993
• Hot Air solo exhibition, Mappin Gallery, Sheffield

Conclusions:

Jonathan Allen’s work self-consciously foregrounds this stirring relationship, it simultaneously parodies how the potential for deception finds usage in the hands of today’s evangelical preachers and crusading politicians.

What to Do Next...

If you want any information about Jonathan Allen or looking for his paintings please visit us on http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/jonathan_allen.htm