Billie Allen

Artist Billie Allen was unjustly imprisoned for a crime he did not commit and has spent the last 26 years of his life in prison, on Federal Death Row. “Within the confines of a tiny 6'x8' cell where I spend 23 hours a day, art has the power to set me free!” says Billie Allen. “Creativity and the act of creation is fundamental to the human spirit, without it something within us withers.” Billie Allen refuses to wither, stay silent, or to live in the shadows while innocent. With hundreds of completed artworks, Billie Allen remains a relevant and important member of society and the art world, receiving contemporary awards, articles and exhibitions. The key to Billie Allen’s mental and physical survival is the daily practice of creating paintings, drawings, collage, mixed-media, and interactive installation pieces with outside artists in exhibition spaces. Billie Allen’s artwork masterfully engages the viewer with his personal story of innocence, injustice, systems of power and corruption, contemporary superheros and the use of historic events and Afro-futurism. “The act of creation gives me the ability to thrive in response to injustice.” Showing nationally and internationally Allen’s skilled hand, unbridled spirit, and provocative compositions have proven to break down walls and connect humanity. Innocent of the charges, Allen’s artwork and process is his tool for liberation, restoration and resilience.

Artist Statement
The Art of Innocence: An Artistic Rebelution
“Rebelution” is the term artist Billie Allen uses to depict his work on canvas, paper, boards, or whatever materials are available to him for self-expression and creation. Allen’s artwork is more than just painting and sculpture, it is a social practice that uses poetry, storytelling, healing, and meditation to convey personal and universal narratives of truth, triumph, liberty and loss. Allen’s artwork expresses his INNOCENCE and, more so his tireless fight for freedom and justice while evolving his humanity and spirit. “Silence is not an option!” says Allen, “My artwork is intended to be provocative, passionate, raw and a force to be reckoned with – so at the moment  of engagement these prison walls come tumbling down.” The creation process and exhibition of Billie’s artwork allows for a powerful interactive and sometimes intimate dialogue and sharing of internal and external space.

Taking on subject matter like Emmett Till, surveillance, personal liberation, power constructs and the justice system, Allen has created hundreds of compelling pieces: from illustrated graphic novels to large-scale textured collages, diptychs, and triptychs. “I work with my hands, brushes, pallet knives or anything I can find to excavate the landscape of my mind. Sometimes what surfaces is turmoil, at other times courage, calmness, or resilience. Painting, drawing, sculpting and writing is how I channel and convey my experience of living in the shadows of death and despair and it is also what gives me liberty, healing and hope.”