Allan Banford artworks respond directly to the surrounding environment of everyday experiences, unnoticed instances that come alive by his “Laceration” technique, de-constructing the subject to the extent that the meaning is shape-shifted, creating an abstract interpretation that challenge perception and perspective.
His art follows the concept of constant creative evolution, identifying the boundaries between consciousness and reality his creations capture movements, emotions, portraits and, figures revealing an inseparable relationship between dimension and space, this conceptual approach produces unique multi-layered texturised artworks.
The abstract conceptualisation of Allan Banford’s art has been portrayed as “一期一会 / Ichi-go Ichi-e” / “for this time only, and once in a lifetime” treasuring the unrepeatable nature of the spacetime theory.
Since Allan Banford was five years old, he painted and drew endlessly. He drew everywhere and on everything, including on top of paintings hung in his home, from abstract landscapes to flowers. This process of recreating art on almost any surface he could get his young hands-on was not only fun, but it was a journey of discovery to understand how a painting could ignite different feelings. His artistic additions improved some of the artworks he selected as part of his home refurbishment programme until he painted a decorative addition on his mum’s graduation portrait; that was the end of painting around the house. Although his mischievous creativity resulted in a ban from touching anything framed on the walls, he realised that he could preserve his ideas on a canvas and keep it forever.
As a teenager, he was very interested in graphic design and technology. Learning how to use photoshop and illustrator was the base of his graphical foundations, alongside extend research about artistic ideologies from different fields, which continued fueling his creative self-education. However, this didn’t fully satisfy his expectations, so he immersed himself into mixing, writing and producing electronic music to voice his creativity and point of view. Starting as a DJ, constructing sets from building blocks of tech-house, techno-influenced from Jeff Mills, Carl Cox, and Richie Hawtin, Allan’s passion for music and his intuitive ability to put tracks together earned his reputation to consistently deliver exuberant live performances full of energy and passion. As time advanced, his unique sound brought him to perform extensively worldwide, and he set up his first recording studio in Kensington, London, UK. Allan set about developing one of the most innovative sounds on the market called Electro Techno and experimental Electronica.
His debut EP “Essential Elements”, released by the Swedish Label SLS records, respected worldwide thanks to the support of Jeff Mills in his DVD “The Exhibitionist”, was closely followed by a succession of top quality productions, including “Best of British”, released on Carl Cox’s label Intec Records. The demand for his productions pushed Allan to be the founder of Evolved Records. This label was for established artists interested in experimenting with new genres; with Evopro Recordings, for promoting new talent and NB Records exclusively for Allan’s audiovisual productions. He was captivated by the whole process of sampling, composing, editing, mastering, producing and performing live. Music gave him the foundation to learn how to communicate his ideas to bigger audiences, and, after a few years of producing and playing music worldwide, he pursued a self-taught parallel career as an artist in fine art and digital art. His design, music and fine art qualifications didn’t really point him in a direction or self-discovery to create a unique and identifiable style.
Constant self-education delved deep into the lives and characteristics of his artistic references such as William Turner, Francis Bacon, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, On Kawara and Gerhard Richter, to mention a few. These creative masters helped him to develop a more coherent conceptualisation to connect deeply with his personality, which is reflected in his artworks as they respond directly to the surrounding environment of everyday experiences. Unnoticed instances come alive by his “Laceration” technique, de-constructing the subject to the extent that the meaning is shape-shifted, creating an abstract interpretation that challenges perception and perspective. His art follows the concept of constant creative evolution, identifying the boundaries between consciousness and reality; his creations capture movements, emotions, portraits and, figures revealing an inseparable relationship between dimension and space. This conceptual approach produces unique multi-layered texturised artworks.
The abstract conceptualisation of Allan Banford’s art has been portrayed as 一期一会 “Ichi-go Ichi-e”/ “for this time only, and once in a lifetime”, treasuring the unrepeatable nature of the spacetime theory. His legacy will help future generations understand how important it is to believe in ourselves as individuals and as a species. Banford’s career as an artist has been a constant evolution, the transition from music to art was a crucial moment in his creative journey, leading to several solo exhibitions across America, South America, Europe and Asia and several awards including the World Citizen Artists Award with the artwork “Golden Peace”, commemorating Nelson Mandela’s anniversary.
The most essential tools in Allan’s studio are music and light. Apart from brushes, knives and wood panels, his methods and materials are constantly experimental, and he rarely executes the same instruments within a series. His primary medium is acrylic due to its versatility and efficiency, however, you will also find mixed media artworks with many diversifications of unconventional elements such as wax, hair, Chinese ink, or tape. Allan predominantly paints on wood due to the organic texture and character, which is hard to achieve from stretched canvas, but he has also mastered canvas and board.
The only scripted element of his creative process is colour, no more than three tonalities, without any specific structure, sketches or test runs. Once he begins painting and defining the concept, it becomes only a matter of realising when to stop. His art is noticeable for the opposite ends of the colour spectrum, following the principles of the golden ratio to preserve harmony. He works in various styles, shifting from the figurative to the abstract to the entirely digital. His artworks have roots in the tradition of European figurative expressionism; it shows in his work that he is in tune with his environment, and every new experience, discovery or travel opportunity provides him with the information to constantly improve his style.
The strategy of distancing himself from social media influences or trends that segment and categorise creativity based on popularity has been the key to materialise his subconscious visually. He is one of the first notable outsider artists to make a full career from his global influences.
