John McAllister was born in Slidell, Louisiana in 1973. He lives and works in Northampton, Massachusetts.

John McAllister, deeply drawn to the enigmatic play of light, immersed himself in its exploration through the medium of painting. His journey from California to New York proved pivotal, especially his encounter with Post-Impressionist masters at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The works of Pierre Bonnard and Henri Matisse drew him into the tradition of twentieth-century artists who strive to capture the immemorial elements of light.

In his landscapes, instead of sketching specific scenes and points of view in the natural world, McAllister creates imagined vistas inspired by the sense of the sublime experienced in the beauty of nature. The artist engages in an ever-evolving dialogue with his environment; formed as close by as the flowers planted in his garden beyond his studio door, to riding his bike for miles through the wilderness in his surrounding Massachusetts. Back in the studio he creates scenes that possess the kind of harmonious beauty only possible with a considerate understanding of the delicate balance between the oppositional forces in nature and its constant state of flux: the fleetingness of a single ray of light against the ubiquitous being of the sun: the endless cycle of creative growth into hibernation and decay.

McAllister’s almost electric tonalities paint vivid and blooming scenes that embody the essence of pleasure and delight that coexist in painting and nature. His canvases defy conventional perspective, merging flat surfaces with illusions of depth set against intricate backdrops reminiscent of textiles and wallpapers. Each painting - whether a still life, landscape, or detailed interior - offers a poetic glimpse into a world where naïvety flirts with decadence.

McAllister’s works are included in public collections such as The Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; The Rubell Family Collection, Miami and Le Consortium, Dijon, FR.