Allison Schulnik Explained

Allison Schulnik
Birth Place:	San Diego, CA
Nationality:	American
Known For:	Painting, sculpture, film and video animations
Alma Mater:	California Institute of the Arts

Allison Schulnik (born 1978) is an American painter, sculptor and animated filmmaker. She is known for her heavily textured, impasto oil paintings and her animated short videos. Schulnik is married to fellow artist Eric Yahnker. They live and work in Sky Valley, California.^{[1] [2]}

Early life and education

Schulnik was born in San Diego in 1978.^[3] In 2000, she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Experimental Animation from California Institute of the Arts.^{[4] [5]}

Art practice

A multidisciplinary artist, Schulnik is known both for her paintings and her animated video and film works.

As a painter, her signature style is to use thick layers of oil paint to create heavily textured works that are almost sculptural in terms of their depth.^[6] These paintings often begin by creating preliminary drawings, followed by the creation of the painting, where she relies on spontaneity and gesture to create texture with her hands.^{[7] [8]} Thematically, her paintings often depict phantom-like creatures and boneless animals that appear to be melting off of the canvas.^{[9] [10]}

Schulnik's animated works begin with the creation of small sculptures of figures and objects made from clay, paint and other materials.^[10] She has also used traditional hand-drawn animation techniques in some works.

Her freestanding sculptural works, usually made of ceramic, are often exhibited alongside her paintings and animated works.^[11]

Schulnik's collaborations with musicians include the 2009 stop-motion/claymation video Forest for the song Ready, Able by Grizzly Bear.^{[12] [13]} In 2015, Deafheaven selected a painting by Schulnik to use for the cover art of their album New Bermuda.^[14]

Solo exhibitions

• 2020 Hatch, PPOW, New York^[15]
• 2017 Nest, Galeria Jaier Lopez & Fer Frances, Madrid, Spain^[16]
• 2017 Eager, Flint Institute of the Arts, Flint, Michigan^[17]
• 2016 Hoof II, ZieherSmith, New York^{[18] [19]}
• 2016 Hoof, Mark Moore Gallery, Culver City, California^[20]
• 2014 Allison Schulnik/Martix 168, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut^[21]
• 2014 Eager, ZieherSmith, New York^[22]
• 2013 EX.POSE: Allison Schulnik, Laguna Art Museum, Laguna, California^[23]
• 2012 Salty Air, Mark Moore Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
• 2012 Mound, Oklahoma City Art Museum, OK
• 2012 Mound, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, MO
• 2011 Mound, ZieherSmith, New York, NY^[11]
• 2011 Performance, Division Gallery, Montreal, QC, Canada
• 2010 Home for Hobo Too, Tony Wight Gallery, Chicago^[24]
• 2010 Home for Hobo, Mark Moore Gallery, Santa Monica, CA^[25]
• 2009 Allison Schulnik, Unosunove, Rome, IT
• 2009 - Go West, Mark Moore Gallery, New York, NY
• 2008 No Luck Too, Mike Weiss Gallery, New York, NY
• 2007 No Luck, Rokeby Gallery, London, UK
• 2007 Fools, Rejects, and Sanctuaries, Mark Moore Gallery, Santa Monica, CA

Filmography and videography

• 2019: Moth - Hand-painted gouache on paper, animated video, 3:15^{[26] [27]}
• 2014: Eager - Stop-motion/claymation video, 8:30^{[28] [29]}
• 2011: Mound - Stop-motion/claymation video, 4:33^[30]
• 2009: Forest - stop-motion/claymation video, 4:30, for the song Ready, Able by Grizzly Bear, from the album Veckatimest.^{[12] [13]}
• 2008: Hobo Clown - stop-motion/claymation video, 5:00
• 2000: Pistachio - 16mm Stop-motion animated film, 7:00^[31]
• 1999: Vedma - 16mm Stop-motion animated film, 5:00^[31]
• 1997: The Slaying - 16mm Stop-motion/live action animated film, 1:00^[31]

Awards

• 2014 Ottawa International Animation Festival - Best Abstract/Experimental Animation Film for Eager^[32]
• 2014 South by Southwest Film Festival - Special Jury Recognition Award for Eager
• 2010 South by Southwest Film Festival - Feature Film Audience Award Runner-Up for Forest^{[33] [34]}

Collections

• Albright-Knox Art Gallery^[35]
• Chapman University^[36]
• Crocker Art Museum^[37]
• Farnsworth Art Museum^[38]
• Laguna Art Museum
• Los Angeles County Museum of Art^[39]
• Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art
• Museum of Fine Arts Houston^[40]
• Museé des Beaux Arts de Montréal^[41]
• Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego^[42]
• Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art^[43]
• Santa Barbara Museum of Art^[44]
• US Department of State^[45]
• Wadsworth Atheneum^[46]

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2020-03-26. Art Mamas: Allison Schulnik on Making Time for What You Need. 2020-11-28. Whitewall. It was the artist's first presentation since giving birth to her daughter and moving out to the desert of Sky Valley, CA..
2. Web site: Bogojev. Sasha. February 18, 2020. Hatch: Allison Schulnik's Debut @ P.P.O.W. NYC. 2020-11-28. Juxtapoz magazine. en-gb.
3. Book: New American Paintings . 2008 . Open Studios Press . en.
4. Web site: Johnson . Ken . Allison Schulnik: 'Mound' (Published 2011) . The New York Times . 15 December 2011.
5. Book: Anderson . Susan Mary . Collecting California: Selections from Laguna Art Museum . 2009 . Laguna Art Museum . 978-0-940872-36-3 . en.
6. Web site: Chang . Richard . Laguna Art Museum offers smorgasbord . Orange County Register . 15 March 2013.
7. Web site: October 2008, Allison Schulnik @ Mike Weiss Gallery. 2020-11-25. Whitehot Magazine of Contemporary Art. en.
8. Web site: Maine . Stephen . Allison Schulnik . ARTnews.com . 24 February 2009.
9. Web site: 2013-03-02. I Tend To Overdo It Sometimes. 2020-11-25. HuffPost. en.
10. Web site: ZieherSmith. 2020-11-25. www.artforum.com. 26 January 2014 . en-US.
11. Web site: Kangas . Matthew . Allison Schulnik . Sculpture . 1 December 2012.
12. Web site: Christie . Tom . Exclusive Interview with L.A. Artist Allison Schulnik About Her New Claymation Video for Grizzly Bear . LA Weekly . 18 November 2009.
13. Web site: Solomon. Tessa. 2020-04-10. 8 Essential Artist-Directed Music Videos by Andy Warhol, Kara Walker, and More. 2020-11-28. ARTnews.com. en-US.
14. Web site: Minsker. Evan. Deafheaven Detail New Album New Bermuda. 2020-11-28. Pitchfork. 28 July 2015 . en-us.
15. Allison Schulnik . The New Yorker . en.
16. Web site: Juxtapoz Magazine - Installation: Allison Schulnik "Nest" @ Galería Javier López & Fer Francés, Madrid . www.juxtapoz.com . en-gb.
17. Web site: Mound Flint Institute of Arts . flintarts.org . en.
18. Web site: Samet . Jennifer . "Vulnerability Could Be the New Stoic": Paintings by Allison Schulnik . Hyperallergic . 1 October 2016.
19. Web site: Murtha . Chris . ZieherSmith . www.artforum.com. 23 September 2016 .
20. Web site: Talking Mermaids and Bacchanalia with Painter Allison Schulnik . www.vice.com . 30 December 2015 . en.
21. Web site: Amidi . Amid . Allison Schulnik Exhibits Stop Motion Film at Wadsworth Atheneum Museum . Cartoon Brew . 8 February 2014.
22. Web site: ZieherSmith . Alex . Jovanovich . www.artforum.com. 26 January 2014 .
23. Web site: Laguna Art Museum's Allison Schulnik Show is Beautifully Unpretty . Laguna Beach, CA Patch . en . 18 April 2013.
24. Web site: Artist and Alumna Allison Schulnik Talks Hobo Clowns and Grizzly Bear . blog.calarts.edu. 21 April 2010 .
25. Web site: Pagel . David . Art review: Allison Schulnik at Mark Moore . LA Times Blogs - Culture Monster . 15 January 2010.
26. Web site: A Gorgeous Hand-Painted Animation Illustrating the Circle of Life With a Moth Floating About in the Wind . Laughing Squid . 5 June 2019.
27. Web site: Juxtapoz Magazine - Moth: Allison Schulnik's Beautiful Hand-Painted, Gouache-on-Paper Film . www.juxtapoz.com . en-gb.
28. Web site: Jaeger . William . The art of movement stars in exhibit at Schick . Times Union . 8 November 2019.
29. Web site: Wigler . Josh . Director Allison Schulnik Crafts An 'Eager' Dance In New Short Film . https://web.archive.org/web/20140923165017/http://www.mtv.com/news/1913781/allison-schulnik-eager/ . dead . September 23, 2014 . MTV News . en.
30. Allison Schulnik . The New Yorker . en.
31. Garza. Evan J.. December 2008. Spotlight: Allison Shulnik. New American Paintings, 85. 14–17.
32. Web site: Ottawa International Animation Festival 2014. 2020-11-25. www.animationfestival.ca.
33. Web site: Macaulay. Scott. THE SXSW 2010 WINNERS. 2020-11-25. Filmmaker Magazine. 17 March 2010 . en-US.
34. Web site: Bowers. Jeffery. March 18, 2014. I'm Short, Not Stupid Presents: Unabashedly Weird SXSW Shorts. 2020-11-28. Vice magazine. en.
35. Web site: Mound Albright-Knox . www.albrightknox.org.
36. Web site: Allison Schulnik . Escalette Permanent Collection of Art at Chapman University.
37. Web site: Allison Schulnik acquired by Crocker Art Museum . Mark Moore Fine Art Blog . en . 16 August 2016.
38. Web site: Dempster . Farnsworth Art Museum Collection Online . en.
39. Web site: Mound LACMA Collections . collections.lacma.org.
40. Web site: Allison Schulnik: Misfits (Porcelain) . mfah.org.
41. Web site: Allison Schulnik Vidéogramme . mbam.qc.ca.
42. Web site: Albino (Ape Woman #2) . collection.mcasd.org . en.
43. Web site: Mound · Allison Schulnik . www.jccc.edu . en.
44. Web site: Monkey Hobo . collections.sbma.net.
45. Web site: Allison Schulnik – U.S. Department of State . art.state.gov.
46. Web site: Wadsworth Atheneum Collection . 5058.sydneyplus.com.