Allison Sommers is a Brooklyn based artist working primarily in gouache. She creates complicated and intricate worlds with a “sharp wit and a penchant for nonsensical combinations”.

“Abandoning deference for playful irreverence, Sommers draws on her interests in renaissance and baroque art, toying with staid motifs and trading solemnity for nose-thumbing whimsy. She delights in deconstructing the seriousness of historical tropes of art, and tempers sweetness with subtle touches of dark foreboding and sexual deviance.

Sommers studied early modern history at the University of Virginia, where she was able to legitimize a lifelong love of the historical narratives and themes of the Old World, much of which continue to inform her work. She currently works as an art director for a newsweekly in Charlottesville, Virginia, where she lives with her partner Gerrit and their hedgehog, Ludwig.” (bio from Thinkspace Gallery)

Allison’s current solo exhibition “Schlaraffenland” runs from May 7, 2010 – June 4, 2010 at Thinkspace Gallery in Los Angeles, California.  To see more of Sommer’s work, visit AllisonSommers.com.

Related Books:
Pop Surrealism: The Rise Of Underground Art
Surrealism
History of the Surrealist Movement