Art
#animals #birds #sculpture
An Eccentric Cast of Hybrid Creatures Mirrors the Diversity and Humor of Human Experience
Right: “Eagle Pose” (Yoga Parakeet) (2016), stoneware and mixed media, 12 x 6 x 13 inches. All images of Alessandro Gallo, shared with permission
From a dowdy California quail to an incendiary horned lizard, Alessandro Gallo’s peculiar menagerie of animal-human hybrids is teeming with personality. The colorful characters reflect the breadth of interactions occurring every day throughout public spaces as folks encounter others unlike themselves, like a parakeet contorted into a yoga pose or a suit-wearing hooded merganser.
Based in Helena, Montana, the Italian artist likens the animalistic features to a mask or caricature. “I combine it with the silent language of our body and the cultural codes of what we wear in order to portray not only a specific individual, but also the larger groups and subcultures they belong to and, ultimately, the common habitat we all share,” he says.
Generally spanning one to two feet tall, the anthropomorphic sculptures are modeled after a meticulously rendered reference image complete with distinct choices on posture, clothing, and facial expression. Gallo creates an armature from plumber’s piping before hand-building the clay figures. As they dry, he carves in minute details and adds color with acrylic paints.
Gallo’s creatures are included in Intersect Chicago 2020, which runs through December 5. Based in Helena, he’s currently an Archie Bray Foundation resident, and you can find details about his process and works-in-progress on Instagram.
“Evening empire” (2019), ceramics and mixed media, 15 x 15 x 12 inches
Detail of “I will not burn bridges” (2020), stoneware and mixed media, 23 x 10 x 10 inches
“Jack of Spades” (2019)
“I Don’t Want to Grow Up” (Jonathan bearded dragon)(2016), stoneware and mixed media, 18 x 6 x 6 inches
“I will not burn bridges” (2020), stoneware and mixed media, 23 x 10 x 10 inches
“Lost in Thought” (2017) in collaboration with Beth Cavener
“We Are Not Who We Seem” (2016) in collaboration with Beth Cavener
#animals #birds #sculpture
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