Fort Worth Star-Telegram  by Janet Tyson (1992)
THE MODERN TAKES PRINTS TO THE PEOPLE OF FORT WORTH -- Prints long have been considered the most democratic form of artwork. Produced as multiple, rather than singular, images, and basically made of ink on paper, rather than more precious materials, they have the potential of making fine art available to Everyman. With that in mind, what more appropriate way for the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth to celebrate its centennial than by commissioning prints for exhibition -- and for sale?

 In what the Modern's director, Maria Price, says is the most ambitious such project undertaken by a U.S. museum, the Modern has commissioned editions of fine prints from 19 American and European artists associated with the museum. One of each image will enter the Modern's permanent collection. All the rest are for sale, with proceeds going to the Artists Fund, an income-generating endowment to support future exhibitions at the museum.

 And what has come of all this is, indeed, something for everyone. There is a tremendous stylistic range, from uncompromising abstraction to folksy representation. Technique, image size, size of each edition and subject matter also span a wide range, as does price -- from roughly $800 to $6,000.

 "What we've tried to do is come up with prices that, as best we can tell, would be slightly below market or retail prices," Price says.

 Among the various offerings, Marfa-based artist Donald Judd has contributed a two-part lithographic image of overlaying grids and rectangles. Another Texas artist, Dan Allison, has made a colograph of a stylized figure that is practically the size of a room. New Yorker Donald Sultan has created a smallish, elegant silk-screened image of morning glories.

 Other artists participating are Terry Allen, Eric Avery, David Bates, Julie Bozzi, Christopher Brown, Vernon Fisher, Nancy Graves, Red Grooms, Peter Halley, Howard Hodgkin, Melissa Miller, Sean Scully, Lee N. Smith III, James Surls, Richard Thompson and Randy Twaddle.

 The 100th Anniversary Prints exhibition is on view Saturday through May 10. 

Wednesday, September 30, 1998

By Nancy Dean/This Week Correspondent,  Houston Chronicle

HOUSTON ARTIST OPENS EXHIBIT AT MUSEUM IN YUGOSLAVIA 

Although Dan Allison, 44, a contemporary art specialist and printmaker, is well known among the owners of the series of art galleries in and around Colquitt off Kirby Drive, his latest artistic endeavor is taking him much further afield.

 Sept. 3 marked the opening of his retrospective exhibition at the new Modern Museum of Viejo in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.

 "What will be on display reflects my artistic and personal interests for the last 18 years," the Houston native said before his departure. "About half the works are mixed media on canvas, using acrylics, air brush techniques and collage. The other half are prints. Some are maps of the world, woven together. It's my way of showing new world order."

 Allison's connection with the former Yugoslavia goes back to 1987, when he was awarded the prestigious International Graphics Biennial prize in Ljubliana, Slovenia.

 "My entry had been in Ljubliana for the judging for some time, but I wanted to visit the exhibition myself because I was interested in observing the work of the other artists," explained Allison. "After 16 hours in airports and airplanes, I had no idea that I had slipped into the room at the exact moment that the name of the grand prize winner was being announced and  conducted in a language totally alien to me, so the only two words I recognized were my name. Suddenly, a horde of people and cameramen rushed toward me. Honestly, I thought I was being arrested."

 Instead, it was the beginning of a relationship that has continued even as the former Yugoslavia has torn itself apart. Allison is one of few people who can travel freely between each piece of the former country. He has lectured in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia; Ljubliana, the capital of Slovenia; and Belgrade, the capital of Serbia (what is also still officially Yugoslavia) and formerly the capital of the entire country.

 The speaking tours and exhibitions were arranged in 1987 and 1989 by the United States Information Agency, the cultural and information arm of the U.S. government overseas.

 Allison's interest in the region never flagged, not even as the war raged early in the 1990's. In fact, Allison returned to the former Yugoslavia again during the height of the civil war in 1994, as the head of a relief mission for the artists in Sarajevo. It was sponsored by the Artist Rescue Mission based in Houston, an organization he co-founded.

 Upon his arrival, he and his crew were immediately caught in the escalating conflict, so the original plan to airlift the supplies was impossible to carry out. Allison left Ljubliana, 300 miles to the north with two trucks through contested areas.

 "It's definitely the scariest thing I've ever done," he said. "The only way to keep moving was to bribe the guards. Ultimately, I ran out of money, so I was detained for questioning by the Croatian militia just 30 miles south of Sarajevo."

 Eventually, Allison and his trucks were allowed to continue. The supplies, which included cameras and tape recorders, reached the artists in the area. They then used the cameras to document their work and their situation as seen through the eyes of the artists. The photographs were sent via fax to Houston, computer enhanced and exhibited at the Davis/McClain Gallery, 711 Louisiana, in June 1995.

 A live tele-conference was hosted by the gallery on opening night. The dialogue between the artists sequestered around a single working phone in the darkened gallery in Sarajevo and the Texas artists seated at their microphone amid the press conference atmosphere in Houston was one of contrast, emotion, and drama.

 "I have but one nation," said one of the Sarajevo artists. "It is the nation of art. It knows no boundaries."

 So, it is no wonder that Allison is excited about this, his first visit in four years back to the area of the world he has adopted as his own.

 "Eventually, I plan to establish a studio in Slovenia, near the border of Austria and Italy, close to France and Germany. Houston will always remain my base. I plan to keep my studio in the River Oaks area, but my heart belongs to Yugoslavia -- all of it." 

 Sunday, May 2, 1999

 By Suzanne Akhtar

 HOUSTON ARTIST IMMERSES HIMSELF IN YUGOSLAV CONFLICT

 Artist Dan Allison has an unusual connection to current world events. In 1987, the Houston-based artist won the Grand Prix at the prestigious International Biennial of Graphic Art in the former Republic of Yugoslavia. Only a few other Americans have received the Grand Prix, among them Robert Rauschenberg and David Sale.
Concerned with the welfare of artists in the war-torn region, Allison has been setting up a relief organization, driving supplies through war zones and even organizing an exhibit of the artists' response to the upheavals.

 Allison won the Grand Prix for Between Heaven and Earth, a large collograph in three sections that depicts a couple embracing, their heads resting on the earth while their bodies lie on a blanket that stretches into the heavens. Allison sought to capture what it felt like to embrace someone, rather than what it actually looked like.

 Allison created his own collographic process to produce this and other prints. It involves inking and printing the same plate three times -- once each with read, yellow and blue -- then allowing the colors to mix on the paper or canvas. It also involves creating a texture on the print's surface as well as cutting into it.

 Between Heaven and Earth is hanging in the front window of William Campbell Contemporary Art, where a retrospective of Allison's work from the early '70s to the present is being shown. The works demonstrate the technical virtuosity for which Allison is well-known. They also reveal an artist who explores the mysteries of the human heart and spirit through a blend of iconic images, pop and op art, and cartoon style as antecedents.

 Many symbols recur in his art, including apples transformed into heart-shaped fruits, roses with thorny stems, arrows, flames, robes, crayons and op art checkerboard patterns.Taste, for example, shows a heart-shaped apple with a bite taken out of it, surrounded by heart-shaped clouds. It's a very upbeat way of addressing an issue that has fascinated artists for centuries.

 When Allison began making prints in the '70s, much of his imagery was about his friends and relationships. Traveling to Yugoslavia and Europe in the '80s inspired him to think in more universal terms. Madonna Missile, from 1988, a large collograph on canvas that features a Madonna-like figure inspired by a robed woman on an old Yugoslavian map. But Allison has substituted Katharine Hepburn's face where the Madonna's should be. She hovers over a rock-filled harbor with roses at her feet as if blessing a fleet of ships. "Missile" could refer to the strife in Eastern Europe, but it could also be a play on the word "missal."

 Another collograph, Boundary, made this year, shows a flaming fence post in a field with broken lengths of barbed wire. An orange glow on the horizon indicates a battle is taking place while the sky above is mottled, filled with smoke and stormy clouds. It is a very timely representation of the conflicts that are taking place all over the world, particularly in the former Republic of Yugoslavia.

Dan Mitchell Allison: New and Rare Editions continues through May 15 at William Campbell Contemporary Art, 4935 Byers Ave., Fort Worth (817) 737-9566. Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday: 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday.