Micky Allan
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Allan was born in [[Melbourne]] in 1944. From the age of two, she lived in Japan, before in 1950 her family moved back to Melbourne where Allan attended the [[Melbourne Girls Grammar|Melbourne Church of England Girls Grammar School]], in [[South Yarra]]. There she received an American Field Service Scholarship allowing her to study in the U.S. Allan took up painting as a teenager and attended a girls school in [[Kansas City]] in 1961. The school held Allan's first solo exhibition when her paintings were displayed in a national art contest.{{cite web|title=THE ACCA EXPERIMENTS: MICKY ALLAN - FOR LOVE OF THE DIVINE|url=https://www.accaonline.org.au/sites/default/files/90_1989_Mickey%20Allan_For%20Love%20of%20The%20Devine.pdf|website=Australian Centre for Contemporary Art|accessdate=22 April 2015|archive-date=5 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305171029/https://www.accaonline.org.au/sites/default/files/90_1989_Mickey|url-status=dead}} |
Allan was born in [[Melbourne]] in 1944. From the age of two, she lived in Japan, before in 1950 her family moved back to Melbourne where Allan attended the [[Melbourne Girls Grammar|Melbourne Church of England Girls Grammar School]], in [[South Yarra]]. There she received an American Field Service Scholarship allowing her to study in the U.S. Allan took up painting as a teenager and attended a girls school in [[Kansas City]] in 1961. The school held Allan's first solo exhibition when her paintings were displayed in a national art contest.{{cite web|title=THE ACCA EXPERIMENTS: MICKY ALLAN - FOR LOVE OF THE DIVINE|url=https://www.accaonline.org.au/sites/default/files/90_1989_Mickey%20Allan_For%20Love%20of%20The%20Devine.pdf|website=Australian Centre for Contemporary Art|accessdate=22 April 2015|archive-date=5 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305171029/https://www.accaonline.org.au/sites/default/files/90_1989_Mickey|url-status=dead}} |
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After returning from Kansas, Allan studied Fine Arts at the [[University of Melbourne]] under art historian [[Joseph Burke (art historian)|Joseph Burke]] in 1963. |
After returning from Kansas, Allan studied Fine Arts at the [[University of Melbourne]] under art historian [[Joseph Burke (art historian)|Joseph Burke]] in 1963. in 1965 she commenced a full-time Diploma of Painting course at the [[National Gallery of Victoria Art School]] which she completed in 1967.{{cite web|title=ALLAN Micky|url=https://www.mga.org.au/index.php/collection/explore/index/artist/428/pp/96|website=Monash Gallery of Art|publisher=MGA|accessdate=22 April 2015}} |
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==Work== |
==Work== |
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Finding it unlikely that she would make a living from painting, Allan began taking photographs in 1974 after joining Melbourne's experimental arts and theatre space, [[the Pram Factory]].{{cite web|title=Photography Meets Feminism|url=http://artblart.com/tag/virginia-coventry/|website=Art Blart|date=30 November 2014 |publisher=Shaune Lakin|accessdate=22 April 2015}} She began working on sets and costumes and designing posters for the plays held there and, needing to photograph performances, learned darkroom photographic processing from housemate [[Virginia Coventry]]. In 1974, The Pram Factory held her first show of black-and-white photographs. She continued to take photographs devotedly for magazines and began to emerge as a well-known female photographer, garnering commissions around Australia. |
Finding it unlikely that she would make a living from painting, Allan began taking photographs in 1974 after joining Melbourne's experimental arts and theatre space, [[the Pram Factory]].{{cite web|title=Photography Meets Feminism|url=http://artblart.com/tag/virginia-coventry/|website=Art Blart|date=30 November 2014 |publisher=Shaune Lakin|accessdate=22 April 2015}} She began working on sets and costumes and designing posters for the plays held there and, needing to photograph performances, learned darkroom photographic processing from housemate [[Virginia Coventry]]. In 1974, The Pram Factory held her first show of black-and-white photographs. She continued to take photographs devotedly for magazines and began to emerge as a well-known female photographer, garnering commissions around Australia. |
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=== Hand-colouring === |
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Allan associated with a network of feminist photographers that included [[Sue Ford]],{{Cite web |last=Reed |first=Paul |date=1980s |title=Women's meeting in a river - Sue Ford, Micky Allan, Virginia Coventry and Viva Gibb |url=https://find.slv.vic.gov.au/discovery/fulldisplay?&context=L&vid=61SLV_INST:SLV&search_scope=PICS&tab=searchProfile&lang=en&docid=alma9917765273607636 |access-date=2026-04-19 |website=State Library of Victoria |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Ford |first=Sue |title=A sixtieth of a second: portraits of women 1961-1981 |publisher=Experimental Art Foundation |year=1987 |isbn=0949836192 |location=Adelaide, South Australia}} with whom she exhibited at Abraxas gallery in [[Manuka, Australian Capital Territory|Manuka]],{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131825062 |title=Advertising |newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]] |volume=50, |issue=14,415 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=26 June 1976 |accessdate=19 April 2026 |page=15 |via=National Library of Australia}} and also in |
Allan associated with a network of feminist photographers that included [[Sue Ford]] and Ashe Venn,{{Cite web |last=Reed |first=Paul |date=1980s |title=Women's meeting in a river - Sue Ford, Micky Allan, Virginia Coventry and Viva Gibb |url=https://find.slv.vic.gov.au/discovery/fulldisplay?&context=L&vid=61SLV_INST:SLV&search_scope=PICS&tab=searchProfile&lang=en&docid=alma9917765273607636 |access-date=2026-04-19 |website=State Library of Victoria |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Ford |first=Sue |title=A sixtieth of a second: portraits of women 1961-1981 |publisher=Experimental Art Foundation |year=1987 |isbn=0949836192 |location=Adelaide, South Australia}} with whom she exhibited at Abraxas gallery in [[Manuka, Australian Capital Territory|Manuka]],{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131825062 |title=Advertising |newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]] |volume=50, |issue=14,415 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=26 June 1976 |accessdate=19 April 2026 |page=15 |via=National Library of Australia}} and also in 1975, from her practice in painting, she turned to [[hand-coloured|hand-colouring]] monochrome photographic prints,{{cite book|editor-last1=French|editor-first1=Blair|title=Photo files : an Australian photography reader|date=1999|publisher=Power Publications and Australian Centre for Photography|location=Sydney|isbn=1864870532|pages=31–32}} as did [[Viva Gibb]], [[Ruth Maddison]] and [[Janina Green]]. Dr Shaune Lakin, Senior Curator of Photography at the National Gallery of Australia, considers Allan to be the pioneer of the genre amongst the group.{{Cite web |last=Dal Pozzo |first=Yvette |date=20 May 2020 |title=Micky Allan: A Live-in Show |url=https://nga.gov.au/stories-ideas/micky-allan-a-live-in-show/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20241024134726/https://nga.gov.au/stories-ideas/micky-allan-a-live-in-show/ |archive-date=2024-10-24 |access-date=2026-04-19 |website=National Gallery of Australia |language=en-AU}} They revived, with a consciously feminist intent, that technique that had been developed by predominantly women retouchers in commercial photography studios for over a century to 'colour' black-and-white portraits and wedding photos. Traditionally hand-colouring involved manually adding colour to a black-and-white photograph, through the materials and techniques of painting and the use of paints, inks and dyes. In the 1970s [[Chromogenic print|chromogenic prints]] from colour negatives had become affordable, though still complex to undertake in a home darkroom, and commercial hand-colouring was disappearing, but for these artists, such manual manipulation personalised the work and extended the means of creative photographic expression.{{cite web|title=Colour My World|url=http://nga.gov.au/ColourMyWorld/|website=National Gallery of Australia|publisher=NGA|accessdate=22 April 2015|archive-date=8 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708035016/https://nga.gov.au/ColourMyWorld/|url-status=dead}} |
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Allan's first handcoloured works were a series of her friend Laurel in 1975. The following year she worked on a series titled ''Babies'' which became an ongoing series concerned with life cycles. The photographs are portraits of babies with the face filling the frame and pencil colours in small areas. The work was displayed in the [[National Gallery of Australia]]. Allan's fascination with age cycles continued with her 1978 the series, ''Old Age''. In close-up photographs of elderly people, Allan highlighted the physical ageing process which can be regarded as unattractive by society. Allan's work raised humanist concerns and the work has been displayed in many galleries across Australia. |
Allan's first handcoloured works were a series of her friend Laurel in 1975. The following year she worked on a series titled ''Babies'' which became an ongoing series concerned with life cycles. The photographs are portraits of babies with the face filling the frame and pencil colours in small areas. The work was displayed in the [[National Gallery of Australia]]. Allan's fascination with age cycles continued with her 1978 the series, ''Old Age''. In close-up photographs of elderly people, Allan highlighted the physical ageing process which can be regarded as unattractive by society. Allan's work raised humanist concerns and the work has been displayed in many galleries across Australia. |
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=== ''My Trip'' === |
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The series ''My Trip'' recorded Allan's 17-day road trip through rural Victoria, in 1975. In this publication she approaches people, recording their conversations and portrays them in their natural state through photography. Allan decided to travel alone, recording photographically what she saw and experienced. Having finished a body of work in the darkroom, she felt she need to go on a holiday and decided to use her camera to arbitrate her interactions with the strangers that she came across.{{cite web|title=My Trip: Micky Allan|url=http://www.loeildelaphotographie.com/2014/11/04/exhibition/26525/my-trip-micky-allan-max-pam-jon-rhodes-at-nsw-gallery-sydney|website=L'oeil de la Photographie|date=4 November 2014 |publisher=Alison Stieven-Taylor|accessdate=9 April 2015}} The series become a documentation of how women were perceived when travelling alone during the years of second-wave feminism.{{cite web|title=My Trip: Micky Allan,Max Pam, Jon Rhodes|url=http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/exhibitions/my-trip/|website=Art Gallery NSW|accessdate=24 April 2015}} |
The series ''My Trip'' recorded Allan's 17-day road trip through rural Victoria, in 1975. In this publication she approaches people, recording their conversations and portrays them in their natural state through photography. Allan decided to travel alone, recording photographically what she saw and experienced. Having finished a body of work in the darkroom, she felt she need to go on a holiday and decided to use her camera to arbitrate her interactions with the strangers that she came across.{{cite web|title=My Trip: Micky Allan|url=http://www.loeildelaphotographie.com/2014/11/04/exhibition/26525/my-trip-micky-allan-max-pam-jon-rhodes-at-nsw-gallery-sydney|website=L'oeil de la Photographie|date=4 November 2014 |publisher=Alison Stieven-Taylor|accessdate=9 April 2015}} The series become a documentation of how women were perceived when travelling alone during the years of second-wave feminism.{{cite web|title=My Trip: Micky Allan,Max Pam, Jon Rhodes|url=http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/exhibitions/my-trip/|website=Art Gallery NSW|accessdate=24 April 2015}} |
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=== ''Botany Bay Today'' === |
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Allan's work in 1980 explored the juxtaposition of nature and the industrialization around [[Botany Bay]].{{cite web|title=Micky Allan|url=http://www.langford120.com.au/14-micky-allan.html|website=Langford120|publisher=Langfod120|accessdate=24 April 2015}} The black-and-white photographs consisted mainly of views near the bay, with some more general views of the area including hand-painted images of flowers, with an emphasis on the contrast between the industrial and natural world. The body of this work, exhibited at the [[National Gallery of Victoria|NGV]] in 1980 by curator [[Jennie Boddington]], focused on the industrial devastation of the coastline, raising awareness of the impact it has on daily life.[[Jennie Boddington|Boddington, Jennie]] & National Gallery of Victoria (1980). Micky Allan : Botany Bay today : [[Viva Gibb|Jillian Gibb]] : One year's work. The Gallery, Melbourne{{cite web|last1=Hinkson|first1=Melinda|title=Micky Allan at CCAS (online)|url=http://search.informit.com.au/fullText;dn=220945068603622;res=IELLCC#|website=Art Monthly Australia|accessdate=25 April 2015}} |
Allan's work in 1980 explored the juxtaposition of nature and the industrialization around [[Botany Bay]].{{cite web|title=Micky Allan|url=http://www.langford120.com.au/14-micky-allan.html|website=Langford120|publisher=Langfod120|accessdate=24 April 2015}} The black-and-white photographs consisted mainly of views near the bay, with some more general views of the area including hand-painted images of flowers, with an emphasis on the contrast between the industrial and natural world. The body of this work, exhibited at the [[National Gallery of Victoria|NGV]] in 1980 by curator [[Jennie Boddington]], focused on the industrial devastation of the coastline, raising awareness of the impact it has on daily life.[[Jennie Boddington|Boddington, Jennie]] & National Gallery of Victoria (1980). Micky Allan : Botany Bay today : [[Viva Gibb|Jillian Gibb]] : One year's work. The Gallery, Melbourne{{cite web|last1=Hinkson|first1=Melinda|title=Micky Allan at CCAS (online)|url=http://search.informit.com.au/fullText;dn=220945068603622;res=IELLCC#|website=Art Monthly Australia|accessdate=25 April 2015}} |
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