Artist Allen Cosgrove works in a variety of media: photography, manipulated photos, digital imagery, 3D computer models, electronic sculptures… as well as the more traditional media of painting, drawing, and printmaking. Receiving a Bachelor’s in Painting and a Master’s in Printmaking in the 1970s, Allen became interested in computer imaging and in manipulated photo imagery in 1983 while teaching Fine Art in New Jersey and New York. Retiring from fulltime teaching in 2002, Allen currently resides in Lawyersville, New York, teaching part-time at nearby SUNY Cobleskill and working in his studio.
“The goal of my work is to utilize various color harmonies and surface textures to visually engage the audience. This also provides me with the means to explore the range of possibilities allowed through my choice of materials. I have no interest in using my art to push some form of ideology or political agenda at the viewer. It would not be unreasonable to suggest that a painting is not made with theory alone; to me, the materials are the vital component. I draw inspiration from The Modernist tradition, and the concept of emphasizing a material's “competency;” photography, paint, and digital imagery and their saturated pure color.”