Allan Gardner’s practice is responsive, aiming to contribute to contemporary critical discourse around art and culture as well as contemporary politics of being and identity - how do we situate ourselves in relation to others, how do aesthetic and symbolic factors contribute to this situation.
Rather than sharing a specific visual narrative, Allan Gardner’s works are linked by intention and tend towards media in the expanded field.
Allan Gardner is a Scottish artist based in London, UK. He earned his BFA in Painting from Leeds College of Art (2018) and his MA in Contemporary Art Practice from the Royal College of Art (2020). His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including projects with the Institute of Contemporary Arts (London), SCIENCE Museum (London), Tate St. Ives (Cornwall), No Gallery (NYC), Hannah Barry Gallery (London), Annka Kultys Gallery (London), Cite Des Arts Internationale (Paris), The Art House (Wakefield) and many more. His writing has been published by Kaleidoscope, Dazed, Sleek, Mousse, CLOT, The Quietus and many more. In 2021, he founded SCREW Gallery in Leeds, with a curatorial focus on the intersection of art and subculture.
Solo exhibitions include Foreverisms, Cob, London, UK (2024);Platform w/ No Gallery, David Zwirner, New York, US (2023); Indifferent Stars, No Gallery, New York, US (2022); Pictures With Deep Meaning, Village Gallery, Leeds, UK (2022). Group exhibitions and duo presentations include Allan Gardner and Brad Philipps Blue Velvet Projects (upcoming January 2025); Fantasy Lands, Collective Ending, London, UK (with Maggie Dunlap) (2022); I Don’t Want A Holiday In The Sun (Curated by Marcus Nelson), Bomb Factory, London, UK (2023); Offices and Honkey Tonks, Night Club, Minneapolis, US (2023); I’d Rather Be Your Enemy, Grove Collective, London, UK (2022); Tree as Leaf, Hannah Barry Gallery, London, UK (2021); Screw Bound, The Whitworth Museum. Manchester, UK (2021); 302_Redirect, ICA, London, UK (2020); Velvet Ropes, Sargent’s Daughters, New York, US (2019); Velvet Ropes, Shrine Gallery, New York, US (2019). In 2021, Allan Gardner founded SCREW Gallery in Leeds, with a curatorial focus on the intersection of art and subculture.
EDUCATION
MA Contemporary Art Practice, Royal College of Art, 2018-2020
BFA Painting, Leeds College of Art, 2015-2018
FORTHCOMING EXHIBITIONS
2024 Group: (Curated by Nick Klein) Sara's Worldwide (NYC, March)
2024 Solo: No Gallery (NYC, October)
2024 TG Gallery & Forth [Collaborative Presentation] (Nottingham, November)
2025 Duo: w/ Brad Philipps Blue Velvet Projects (January)
SOLO & DUO EXHIBITIONS
2024 Foreverisms, Cob Gallery, London (forthcoming)
2023 Spectre of Paradise, Backhaus Projects, Berlin (with Jack Kennedy)
2023 Platform w/ No Gallery, David Zwirner, New York
2022 Fantasy Lands, Collective Ending, London (with Maggie Dunlap)
2022 Indifferent Stars, No Gallery, New York
2022 Pictures With Deep Meaning, Village Gallery, Leeds
2021 NO TIME WASTERS, WET Productions (Digital experience & Publication)
2020 HE WILL ALWAYS BE MY SON, Village, Leeds (With Jack Kennedy)
2020 TULPA, Bloc Projects, Sheffield (collaborative works with Sean Campbell)
2016 Automatic, Tennis Project Space, Berlin
2016 Open Envelope, Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow (Collaborative works with Sean Campbell)
SELECTED FAIRS & PRESENTATIONS
2023 PLATFORM, David Zwirner NYC w/ No Gallery
2023 NADA New York w/ No Gallery
2023 NADA Miami w/ No Gallery
SELECTED GROUP PRESENTATIONS
2023 Offices and Honkey Tonks, Night Club, Minneapolis
2023 Don't Die, No Gallery, NYC
2023 Half Truths (Organised by Vanessa Murell), Hackney Road, London
2023 I Don't Want A Holiday In The Sun (Curated by Marcus Nelson), Bomb Factory, London
2022 Inhibition, York University, York
2022 I'd Rather Be Your Enemy, Grove Collective, London
2021 Ceremonial Burning of A Turtleneck, Screw Gallery, Leeds
2021 Tree as Leaf, Hannah Barry Gallery, London
2021 Between The Lines, Grove Collective, London
2021 Screw Bound, The Whitworth Museum. Manchester
2020 [the art happens here], Annka Kultys Gallery, London
2020 302_Redirect, ICA, London
2020 A Land of Incomparable Beauty, Collective Ending, London
2019 WIP, Royal College of Art, London
2019 BITE, Dyson Gallery, London
2019 Graduate Residency, The Art House, Wakefield
2019 Le Grande K, Gossamer Fog, London (Collaborative works with Dasha Loyko)
2019 Le Grande K, SCIENCE Museum, London (Collaborative works with Dasha Loyko)
2019 Velvet Ropes, Sargent's Daughters, New York
2019 Velvet Ropes, Shrine Gallery, New York
2019 Capped Out, The Old Biscuit Factory, London
2019 Real Life Is Much Stranger, Freehold Projects, Leeds
2019 Velvet Ropes, House of Vans, London (Collaborative works with Tomas Harker)
2019 The Wrong Biennale, Airport Pavilion
2018 Syzygy, Leeds College of Art, Leeds
2018 Digital Bloodbath, HPBC, Leeds
2017 Behave Collective @ U, Tate St. Ives, Cornwall
2017 y tho, ESA Projects, Leeds
2016 Cerebellum London, London
2016 Cerebellum South East, Hastings
2016 Broken Spaces, Rye Attic, Nottingham
2016 Disposable Society, Northern Monk Refectory, Leeds
2016 CMYK, ESA Projects, Leeds
2015 I'll Show You Mine, Leeds