PLANET CHOCKO – art/music/movies/beyond » Alessandro Gallo art exhibit at Jonathan Levine Gallery : FOR SOME REASON runs until 12/17

Alessandro Gallo art exhibit at Jonathan Levine Gallery : FOR SOME REASON runs until 12/17

December 3rd, 2016 by Mr. C

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We usually make a bad habit of attending must see art exhibits on the last day of the show but not this time! Italian artist Alessandro Gallo is currently showing his 2nd solo exhibit of ceramic sculptures at the Jonathan Levine Gallery. The show runs from November 19 – December 17, 2016. Gallo’s 2 foot sculptures infuses elements of the human body with the head of an animal! This hybrid creature creation from the artist looks so creepy, surreal, sarcastic, & comical – all at the same time! There is so much more than meets the eye as Gallo seems to be poking fun and mocking our current human disposition of living in a world of materialism, technology, and selfishness. Hell, I even seem to fit a few molds metaphorically with some of these sculptures he had on hand! The Jonathan Levine Gallery press release below describes the meaning behind the artwork by Alessandro Gallo far much better than I. The sculptures on display at the exhibit looks so real & uncanny right down to some of the tattoo’s present on the body of some of these hybrid creatures of creation! I took some photos of the sculptures but they don’t really do it justice as seeing it in person! Step down to the Jonathan Levine Gallery and see it for yourself. The “For Some Reason” art exhibit runs till December 17th!

Jonathan Levine Gallery
529 West 20th Street, 9th floor
New York, NY 10011

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From the Jonathan Levine Gallery Press release.

ALESSANDRO GALLO
FOR SOME REASON

Solo Exhibition
November 19 – December 17, 2016
Opening Reception: Saturday, November 19 from 6—8pm
NEW YORK, NY (November 1, 2016) — Jonathan LeVine Gallery is pleased to present For Some Reason, a series of new works by Italian artist Alessando Gallo in what will be his second solo exhibition at the gallery.

‘For some reason’ is an idiom used to acknowledge when something exists despite the fact that it defies explanation and perfectly characterizes Gallo’s uncanny ceramic sculptures. His impeccably crafted hybrid creatures with human bodies and animal heads stand approximately two feet tall and question mankind’s relationship with the natural world, as well as our need to postulate a sense of logic when it otherwise appears to be missing.

Gallo’s mixed-media process is rooted in realism and he begins by photographing a model from multiple angles. The resulting photographs are then used in conjunction with images from animal wildlife books as references while sculpting. He adorns his mutant species with clothing, tattoos and other attributes of typical city-dwellers, and positions them within mundane human circumstances, such as standing in an elevator or taking out the garbage. The title of Gallo’s 2014 exhibition, Strani Incontri (Strange Encounters), is a term he continues to use when referring to his surreal subjects and artistic process. He describes, “I find myself invested in unexpected combinations that are strange or surprising even to me and to the viewer facing my work.”

By placing his compositions within the minutia of daily life Gallo views his work as psychological portraits that embark upon themes of alienation, boredom and loneliness. Whether originally derived from nature or culture, his characters effectively embodying the values and vices of human nature.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Alessandro Gallo was born in 1974 in Genoa, Italy. He is currently based in Genoa, Italy and London, United Kingdom. After studying Law at the University of Genoa, Gallo did a foundation course at Saint Martin’s College of Art in London followed by a BA at Chelsea School of Art, graduating in 2002. While in college studying painting he began experimenting with digital photography and manipulated images to create scenes of animals in familiar city settings. By 2005, he had transitioned into digitally making hybrids and decided to give his creatures a physical presence by sculpting them from clay. Gallo and his anthropomorphic characters have received widespread popularity in Europe, with his works being featured in the 237th Annual Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London and the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011. In 2012, he received a first place grant from the Virginia A. Foot Foundation.