Craig Alan was born in 1971 in San Bernardino, California. Though always drawn to art, Alan's creativity did not fully develop until his family transferred to New Orleans while he was a child. The vivacious culture nurtured Alan's capacity for detailed visual interpretation. Inspired by the city's enthusiasm for creative expression, he began exploring his own innovative impulses.
Alan's earliest experimentation took the form of street portraiture, an endeavor that helped him perfect his flair for replicating the human figure and afforded the budding artist a sense of economic security. He saved his portrait earnings to pay for school and art supplies. Though he always planned to pursue a formal art education, Alan continued to develop technically and conceptually through his own diligent studies.
During his sophomore year at the University of Mobile, Alabama, Alan undertook vigorous training in art. His enthusiasm for his studies immediately propelled him into the scholastic limelight. With a focus on studio arts, Alan earned an area award for academic excellence. The University's most prestigious exhibition, "Art with a Southern Drawl," featured 42 of Alan's pieces, chosen from a field of more than 1,600 submissions.
A minor concentration in theater further diversified Alan's craft, imbuing him with additional techniques in makeup and set design. This blending of disparate influences and media is visually apparent in all of Alan's works, which demonstrate a broad knowledge and appreciation of the human form as well as the colorful world these beings occupy. Combining his skills into elaborate textures, hues, and compositions, Alan's artwork reveals a technical sophistication as well as an elaborate imagination.
Alan's collections run the gamut from abstract expressionism to haunting, graphic realism, each one a reflection of its creator's unique vision. His prolific career is a culmination of textbook artistic knowledge and keen aesthetic sense, one developed not through intensive schooling but deep within recesses of this artist's brilliant mind.
Craig Alan continues to exhibit his artwork across the United States, where he has established himself as a singular voice in the visual arts industry.


THE WORK
Craig Alan is an artist with a restless eye, pushing the boundaries of visual expression without constraints. Alan’s body of work references numerous styles from pop-surrealism to magic realism to neo-expressionist abstraction and representation. His most recent work, which he refers to as the Populus series, steps outside the tropes of those well-worn formal enterprises with strikingly original images created from hundreds of tiny figures on a white ground. 
At first glance, the paintings look like aerial photographs, though a closer inspection reveals that they are painstakingly hand-painted. The images had their genesis in some photos Alan was taking of a wedding party from a high-rise balcony. “Later on that evening I noticed, in one shot, the group of people appeared to have formed an eye. That’s all it took to get the gears moving fast, that one photo is what started it all,” according to Alan. 
“Each piece will contain a range of 400 to 1,800 people in it depending on the type of work it is,” says Alan. The creative process is labor intensive: “I can spend anywhere up to 150 working hours and beyond  on one section of a painting depending on the size, however, I like to work on more than one painting at a time, I like the challenge, and it sparks new ideas.” 
These images have a real “wow” factor to them that comes from the realization that the larger picture is composed of so many intricately rendered figures. “It’s rewarding for me as an artist to watch people’s reaction to my work and to see them get such enjoyment out of it,” says Alan. He hopes that viewers of these paintings will realize “that we are all part of something greater than ourselves, and if we work together, we could achieve greater balance . . . not in a religious sense but rather a universal sense.”
 Alan’s other work is entirely different from the Populus series. In the series referred to as Novel Anthology, Alan uses a combination of traditional representational techniques to create literal visual metaphors, portraying children and animals and anthropomorphic images as well lingering in the deep woods and dark interiors. In other images the figure has been removed, leaving ghostly dresses floating on atmospheric grounds Alan prides himself on his eclectic creative process, which is reminiscent of an “old-school” postmodern approach to painting. 
According to Alan he isn’t really working from this type of conceptual base; rather he’s simply utilizing a myriad of creative approaches to keep his painting fresh. “I am a student of the arts and will be until I pass,” says Alan. “I love to study and practice technique. These paintings are an extension of the abilities bestowed upon me.” 
*Nashville Arts Magazine, “Craig Alan: The Future Is Not Written”, Accessed June 26, 2017 (Edited Version)




Curriculum Vitae

1971 Born in San Bernardino, California
1998 Studied at the University of Mobile, Alabama, Major in Studio Art

2001 the University of Alabama, Winner of "Art with a Southern Drawl" Competition
2002 Recipient of University Academic Excellent Award

Exhibitions/ Gallery Representation


2021

Porrentruy Optical Art Museum, "Art & Illusion: 10 Masters of Optical Art and Neopointillism," Porrentruy, Switzerland
Contessa Gallery, Palm Beach, FL, USA
Animazing Gallery, Las Vegas, NV, USA
Craig Alan "New Works", Canfin Gallery, Tarrytown, NY, USA

2020

"Craig Alan", Art Angels, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Galerie S16, Montreal, Canada
&Collections, Tokyo, Japan
Taglialatella Galleries, Toronto, Canada
Craig Alan "From the Ground Up", Pop International Gallery, New York, NY, USA

2019


"Magic In the Detail", Newbury Fine Art, Boston, MA, USA
Pop International "One Man Show", New York, New York, USA
Art Angels, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Art Angels, Miami, FL, USA 

Clarendon Fine Art, Mayfair, England

Contessa Gallery, Ohio, USA

Galeries Bartoux, Paris, France

"Diamonds of Art by Craig Alan", Galerie Mensing, Dusseldorf, Germany

Gallery Biba, Palm Beach, FL, USA

Gaurisco Gallery, Washington D.C., USA

Lahaina Gallery, Wailea, Maui, USA

Minima Gallery, Mikonos, Greece

Newbury Fine Arts, Boston, MA, USA

Off The Wall Gallery, Houston, TX, USA

Pop International Gallery, New York, NY, USA

Studio E, Palm Beach Gardens, FL, USA

2018

Art Angels, Los Angeles, CA, USA 
Art Angels, Miami, FL, USA 
Clarendon Fine Art, Mayfair, England 
Contessa Gallery, Ohio, USA  
Galeries Bartoux, Paris, France 
Galerie Mensing, “Craig Alan’s Great Art”, Hamburg, Germany 
Gallery Biba, Palm Beach, FL, USA 
Guarisco Gallery, Washington D.C., USA 
Herndon Museum, Atlanta, GA, USA 
Lahaina Gallery, Wailea, Maui, USA 
The Lemon Grove Gallery, London, England 
Newbury Fine Art, Boston, MA, USA 
Off The Wall Gallery, Houston, TX, USA 
Pop International Gallery, “One Man Show”, New York, NY, USA 
Studio E, Palm Beach Gardens, FL, USA 
Whistler Gallery, BC, Canada 

2017

Art Angels, Los Angeles, CA, USA 
Clarendon Fine Art, Mayfair, England 
Contessa Gallery, “Out of the Crate”, Cleveland, OH, USA 
Galerie Mensing, “Cocktails With Craig”,  Palma de Mallorca, Spain 
Galerie Mensing, “Craig Alan: Be Part of the Art”, Düsseldorf, Germany 
Gallery Biba, Palm Beach, FL, USA 
Guarisco Gallery, Washington D.C., USA 
The Lemon Grove Gallery, London, England 
Mark Hachem Projects, Art Basel, Switzerland 
Newbury Fine Art, Boston, MA, USA  
Pop International Gallery, New York, NY, USA 
Studio E, Palm Beach Gardens, FL, USA

2016

Art Angels, Los Angeles, CA, USA 
De Montfort Fine Art, “The Craig Alan Tour”,  Lichfield, England 
Galerie Mensing, “Stars”, Hamburg, Germany 
Guarisco Gallery, Washington D.C., USA 
Heitsch Gallery, Art Basel, Switzerland 
Pop International Gallery, New York, NY, USA 

2015

De Montfort Fine Art, “The Craig Alan Tour”,  Lichfield, England 
Galerie Mensing, “Craig Alan in Berlin”,  Berlin, Germany 
Guarisco Gallery, Washington D.C., USA 
Hampton Classic Horse Show, BridgeHampton, NY, USA


Fairs

Represented by agent/publisher "Connect Contemporary" at the following fairs:

2024

Art Palm Beach, Palm Beach, FL, USA

2023

Art Palm Beach, Palm Beach, FL, USA

Art Wynwood, Miami, FL, USA

Affordable Art Fair, New York, NY, USA

Art Miami CONTEXT, Miami, FL, USA

2022

LA Art Show, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary, Palm Beach, FL, USA

Hamptons Fine Art Fair, Southampton, NY, USA

Art Miami CONTEXT, Miami, FL, USA

2021

Art Miami CONTEXT, Miami, FL, USA
Affordable Art Fair, New York, NY, USA

2020

Art Palm Springs, Palm Springs, CA, USA
LA Art Show Modern + Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary, Palm Beach, FL, USA

2019

CONTEXT Art Miami, Miami, FL, USA
Seattle Art Fair, Seattle, WA, USA
Art New York, New York, NY, USA
LA Art Show Modern + Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary, Palm Beach, FL, USA

2018

CONTEXT Miami, Miami, FL, USA
Texas Contemporary, Houston, TX, USA
Market Art + Design, Bridgehampton, NY, USA
Art New York, New York, NY, USA
Affordable Art Fair, New York, USA
Art Boca Raton, Boca Raton, FL, USA
Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary, Palm Beach, FL, USA

2017

CONTEXT Miami, Miami, FL, USA
SCOPE Basel Switzerland
CONTEXT New York, NY, USA
CONTEXT Palm Beach, Palm Beach, FL, USA

2016

CONTEXT Miami, Miami, FL, USA
CUBE Brussels, Belgium 
SCOPE Basel Switzerland
CONTEXT New York, NY, USA

2015

CONTEXT Miami, Miami, FL, USA
Art Silicon Valley, Silicon Valley, USA
Hampton Classic, Bridgehampton, NY, USA
Art Hamptons, Bridgehampton, NY, USA
Art Palm Beach, Palm Beach, FL, USA
LA Art Show Modern + Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA, USA

2014

SCOPE Miami, Miami, FL, USA
Houston Fine Art Fair, Houston, TX, USA
Art Baltimore, Baltimore, MD, USA
Art Hamptons, Bridgehampton, NY, USA

Selected Commissions

Woodstock Festival 50th Anniversary, Watkins Glen, New York, USA 

Tom Walker, British singer-songwriter, “What A Time To Be Alive”  Album Cover  

Ted Baker, Art Basel Miami Beach, “David Bowie” 2016  

Limitato, Sweden Fashion Brand, Harrods. 

Farah Diba, Princess of Persia, Virginia, USA 

Indiana Pacers, Indiana, USA 

Novartis, East Hanover, “Tree Of Life”, New Jersey, USA 

Delta Airlines, Atlanta, Georgia, USA 

Senator Harry Reid, US Capital, Washington D.C., USA 

Hiroyaki Miyasako host of Japanese TV Show on The Fuji- Channel, Osaka, Japan 

The Herndon Home, Atlanta, Georgia, USA 


Publications

"ChildArt, The Intersection of Art and Neuroscience: A View Through the ABCD Lens" - Oct.-Dec 2020

Populus Book Edition IV - 2020

Populus Book Edition III – 2018 

“Craig Alan: Homage” – 2018 

“Craig Alan: Limited Edition Program” – 2018 

“Craig Alan: Narrative” - 2017  

Populus Book Edition II – 2015 

 “Artista Multidisciplinar”, Arte Al Limite– 2015 

I Love Durban – 2014 

 “Craig Alan: The Future Is Not Written”, Nashville Arts Magazine – 2013 

“Portraits With People as Pixels”, Zilla On-Line Magazine  –  2012 

Daily Mail Reporter, UK – 2012 

Five Thot Marketing – 2012 

Furia Magazine, Antioquia – 2012 

 “Aerial People Portraits”, Stupid Dope Lifestyle Magazine – 2012 

 “Portraits Using People”, The Coolist Magazine – 2012 

Populus Book Edition I – 2011 

 “Not-So-Tiny Little People: Craig Alan”, Nest – 2009