Artist profile
ALO
ALO is an accomplished Italian painter based in London who has exhibited his work throughout Europe. Describing his style as 'urban expressionism', he composes pixelated portraits that carry strong communicative power; sweetness, love, desperation and dignity simultaneously fill the female faces he represents. ALO's overall aesthetic is highly stylized, and showcases detailed layering and a distinctive modern liveliness.
ALO (Aristide Loria) has bridged 130 years of Art History both through his Art and his personal story. Often called the ‘Urban Expressionist’, ALO’s muses speak silently from their poised positions on the street. Discovering these paintings with their intricacy and detail, tucked in between the buildings or doorways of East London, is like stumbling across a portrait that could be found in the National gallery though they are not framed in gold but rather bricks and mortar.
ALO has brought Fine Art into an urban context in a deliberate move to make it accessible to a wider audience. He paints using traditional methods, in the dead of night and often at great risk to his own personal safety. Primarily a studio-based painter, ALO uses the same techniques for his indoor and outdoor creations, avoiding spray cans at all costs. Painting on buildings is illegal in the UK and it is widely known that very few of ALO’s Street pieces are painted with permission and he is not paid for his creations. This practice has gained him much respect on the scene but also means you can walk around the streets of London, New York, Paris and Berlin and see his paintings untouched.
‘Grace’ is a comprehensive collection of unseen paintings that have been created over the course of a few years and a unique insight into his time spent in London and Paris. Using his trademark language of pattern and colour, this repertoire of portraits captures the essence of the everyday people that have inspired him during this time.
ALO as an artist has always been an obsessive painter. Since moving to London back in 2013 he started painting everywhere. Always without permission he just painted and painted in any space he could find. That is still the case now though he spends much more time in the studio.
ALO is an artist who paints on every surface, from canvas to wood board, using the same technique on walls as well. He doesn't feel part of the so-called street art movement, since his street work is a simplified version of his studio paintings, which is his main artistic work.
He paints both on canvas and on external walls with brushes, acrylic and mixed media, mixing painting with a mixed media technique. His outside work is never done under payment or permission. ALO's philosophy on painting on public walls is that art made on public walls has to be for free and for everybody.
He is mainly focused on being a bridge between the underground culture and the fine art world.
Website: www.aloart.org
Instagram: @alo_art