Allan McCollum

Biography

Allan McCollum, Collection of Nine Perfect Vehicles, 1985-90

Whatever specific meaning the artist puts into a work, it will always retain its promise as a gift, its destiny as a keepsake. This is the artwork I am interested in making: an object filled with the absence of certain meaning, and yet rich with the quality of meaningfulness in and of itself.

Allan McCollum was born 1944, in Los Angeles, California. He creates sculptures exploring the correlation between the individuality of an object as well as its derivation from mass production, reflecting on today’s society. Inspired by the Fluxus movement and artworks by conceptual artists, such as Sol LeWitt and Daniel Buren, Allan McCollum introduced an artistic process of studio manufacture of sculptural objects made in unlimited editions. He is creating a seemingly infinite number of objects, indiscernible from one another, displayed on walls or laid out on tables. Using the multiple as a point of departure, McCollum questions the impact of...

Inspired by the Fluxus movement and artworks by conceptual artists, such as Sol LeWitt and Daniel Buren, Allan McCollum introduced an artistic process of studio manufacture of sculptural objects made in unlimited editions. He is creating a seemingly infinite number of objects, indiscernible from one another, displayed on walls or laid out on tables. Using the multiple as a point of departure, McCollum questions the impact of the infinite multiple on the viewer. McCollum’s repetition is also in a way inquiring what defines an art object, commenting on the journey of an object from object to icon to symbol.

In the late seventies he became especially well known for his Surrogate Paintings, with which he examines what it means to be a working contemporary artist and considers the role of seriality in contemporary art-making. To produce this work, the artist and his assistants engage in repetitive and communal labor that systematizes and brakes down the artistic process into stages of production: the creation of molds, the casting of plaster, and the application of enamel paint to create a smooth surface with no trace of the artist’s hand. None of the panels share the same dimensions and frame color. Handmade but standardized, they integrate art and mass production, challenging conventional distinctions between these types of labor.

Allan McCollum has been the subject of over 100 solo exhibitions at institutions, and his works are part of important museum collections around the world such as the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Fotomuseum Winterthur in Switzerland, and The Museum of Modern Art in New York. He has produced numerous public art projects in the United States and Europe.

He lives and works in New York City.

Works

Allan McCollum
Collection of five Plaster Surrogates, 1986
acrylic on plaster
51 x 170 cm | 20.1 x 66.9 in.
Smallest element: 40,6 x 33,3 cm (15 3/4 x 13 in)
Largest element: 50,8 x 41 cm (20 1/8 x 16 1/8 in)
Signed, dated and sequentially numbered ‘8611.a-.e (a)
Allan McCollum 86 (.. of 5)’ on the reverse of each element.
The artwork is registered at the archives under the number LPS 5.11.86
Allan McCollum
Collection of Six Plaster Surrogates, 1988
acrylic on plaster
24.3 x 101.5 x 2.9 cm
9 9/16 x 39 15/16 x 1 2/16 in
I Blue ref:M-20 PL187-20 size: 16,7cm x 10,3cm x 1,9cm
II Red ref:M-13 PL 185-13 size: 24,0cm x 18,5cm x 2,9cm
III Green ref:M-15 PL 216-15 size: 21,7cm x 15,8cm x 2,9cm
IV Pink ref:M-18 PL 207-18 size: 15,4cm x 12,7cm x 1,9cm
V Yellow ref:M-14 PL 203-14 size: 24,3cm x 15,3cm x 2,6cm
VI Grey ref:M-17 PL 606-17 size: 17,8cm x 10,2cm x 1,9cm

9 1/2 x 39 3/4 x 3/4 in
Allan McCollum
Collection of Nine Perfect Vehicles, 1985/90
Enamel on hydrostone
Each: 50.2 x 20.3 cm | 19 3/4 x 8 in
Allan McCollum
Perfect Vehicles (five vessels), 1986
Enameled hydrocal
50 x 21 x 21 cm
19 10/16 x 8 4/16 x 8 4/16 in
each : 50 x 21 x 21 cm
Allan McCollum
Collection of Five Plaster Surrogates, 1982-1990
enamel paint on hydrostone
51 x 40,5 cm
43,5 x 25,5 cm
40,6 x 33.3 cm
51 x 40,5 cm
41 x 30,5 cm
a: 51 x 40,5 cm
b: 43,5 x 25,5 cm
c: 40,6 x 33.3 cm
d: 51 x 40,5 cm
d: 41 x 30,5 cm
Allan McCollum
Collection of Three Plaster Surrogates, 1984
enamel paint on hydrostone
50.8 x 120 x 4.4 cm
20 x 47 3/16 x 1 11/16 in
Allan McCollum
Collection of Seven Plaster surrogates, 1985
enamel on hydrostone plaster in seven parts
Four surrogates size: 7 x 4 inches (17.8 x 10.2 cm)
One surrogate size: 6 1/8 x 5 inches (15.6 x 12.7 cm)
One surrogate size: 5 x 4 inches (12.7 x 10.2 cm)
One surrogate size: 8 5/8 x 6 1/4 inches (21.9 x 15.9 cm)
Each are signed, numbered and dated on reverse
(Inventory #28519)
Four surrogates size: 17.8 x 10.2 cm
One surrogate size: 15.6 x 12.7 cm
One surrogate size: 12.7 x 10.2 cm
One surrogate size: 21.9 x 15.9 cm
Allan McCollum
Three individual "Plaster Surrogates", 1984
enamel on cast hydrocal plaster in three parts
a) 21.6 x 16.5 x 2 cm I 8.5 x 6.3 x 0.7 in
b) 15.2 x 12.7 x 2 cm I 5.9 x 4.7 x 0.7 in
c) 15.2 x 10 x 2.2 cm I 5.9 x 3.9 x 0.8 in
Allan McCollum
Surrogate Painting (1), 1980
acrylic on wood
26 x 24 cm
10 1/4 x 9 1/2 in
Allan McCollum
Surrogate Painting (2), 1980
acrylic on wood
25 x 22 cm
9 7/8 x 8 5/8 in
Allan McCollum
Surrogate Painting (3), 1980
acrylic on wood
30 x 22 cm
11 3/4 x 8 5/8 in