Bale Creek Allen opened BCA Gallery in Austin in 2016. Five and a half years and thirty shows later, Bale transitioned his studio and gallery to the Near Southside district in Fort Worth, TX. 

"It was as a child, during frequent, 19-hour family drives from Fresno, California, where I grew up, to Lubbock, Texas, my parents’ hometown, that images of tumbleweeds, tire treads, highway stripes, and rundown motels – all now central to my work – became etched into my psyche. Raised by venerated iconoclasts (my dad is an artist, writer, and musician; my mother, a writer, actor, and raconteur) and surrounded by artists of all kinds, it was as a youth that I embraced an all-encompassing appreciation for disparate media and affirmed my commitment to making art.

Following high school, I attended Boston’s School of the Museum of Fine Arts then moved to Austin, where I developed my career (and reputation) as an indefatigable artist allergic to classification and constraints. In addition to daily studio time and nighttime gigs as a waiter and playing drums, I opened what would be my first in a series of exhibition venues, each connecting to a studio space. That first venue was located alongside a printmaking workshop, enabling me to indulge in etching, lithography, and monotypes, while cultivating a community of local and visiting artists.

As a curator, I’ve been able to support artists whose exploratory attitudes toward subject matter and/or materials have inspired my own portfolio, which features prints, paintings, multi-media, sculptures, videos, neon, wood work, and photography. My exhibition spaces have also led to independent relationships with some of the established artists whom I was fortunate to have grown up around. This includes Kiki Smith, David Byrne, Bruce Naumann, Ed Ruscha, and the late John Baldessari – all whose work and work ethic I admire and have influenced my own, as has the art of Alison Saar, Allen Ruppersberg, Jun Kaneko, Lynda Benglis, and Luis Jiménez, among others."

– Bale Creek Allen