ALO (artist)

ALO is an Italian artist born in Ancona in 1981. He studied at the faculty of Industrial Design in Florence where he attended a fine art and drawing course. In the early stage of his career, ALO's oil paintings focused on female portraiture and on the representation of human loss and defeat which will become the landmark subject of his "losers" series. After few months, ALO decided to continue his activity working as a self-taught artist. This formation period led him to define his current style based on linear intersections and strong chromatic contrasts. Four years later ALO went back to his native city, Perugia, for his very first solo exhibition "The underdogs show". Influenced by the street art world, ALO decided to reproduce his indoor techniques in the outdoor spaces and started travelling around Europe, in particular to Rome, Milan, Berlin and then to Paris and London, the cities that offered him the biggest "open air canvas".^[1] ALO is currently based in London, where he had his first major solo show "Hail to the loser" at Saatchi Gallery, with which he started a continuous collaboration.

Urban Expressionism

Fascinated by the French and German Expressionism of the beginning of the 20th century, ALO chose the oil painting as the medium of his early artistic production.

Some of the aspects of his most recent pieces, such as the strong chromaticism and the stylized human figures, can be already seen in his very first body of work and they are inspired by the sharp, essential lines typical of the African art.

ALO's style became the more and more refined and the use of the acrylic paint in his works is now predominant. ALO's portraits are the result of his deep study of the human figure, they show the artist's personal ideal of beauty and elegance together with his ability to understand and represent the complexity of the female nature.

Inspired by a variety of artists, from Cezanne and Van Gogh to Kirchner and Picasso, ALO portrays people at the corners of the city streets, at the margins of society. His curious and open approach led him to the urban art world. ALO represents his emotional vision of the reality and transforms his characters into graceful figures full of elegance and solemnity.^[2]

ALO brings the classic portraiture genre to the urban outdoor setting, taking distance from the predominant pop influences of the street art style. His characters are framed by colorful backgrounds, an important element that defines the emotional energy of the artwork and strengthen the idea of "street painting". ALO describes his own art as "urban expressionism".

Press

RNext, La Repubblica degli Innovatori ^[3]

Inspiring City, Italian street artist ALO prepares for his solo show ‘HAIL TO THE LOSER’ at the Saatchi Gallery ^[4]

Complex, 25 Shoreditch Street Artists You Need to Know ^[5]

Combustus, Alo Street Artist, East London and Italy ^[6]

Artribune, Dalle strade a Saatchi. Per Alo “è accaduto tutto molto in fretta ^[7]

Art exhibitions

2015 – Pop the Streets, Saatchi Gallery, London

2014 – Hail to the loser, Saatchi Gallery, London^[8]

2014 – Project M/6, Urban Nation, Berlin^[9][10][11]

2014 – Collicola On the Wall, Palazzo Collicola, Spoleto (Italy)

2013 – Spectrum, Stolen Space Gallery, London

2013 – Winter group show, Stolen Space Gallery, London

References