Interview
Alejandro Ceppi
Born into show business, Alejandro became a television and film child-actor at an early age. He was also the youngest co-producer for the “Latin American Theater Festival” while operating out of the well-established “Teatro Las Palmas” in his native city of Caracas, Venezuela. Alejandro acting career took flight under the tutelage of renowned Latin American film and theater artists; but it wasn’t until he arrived in NYC that, under the direction of Ana Strasberg, Leonard Melfi and Elaine Aiken, he truly found himself as an artist. It was during Alejandro’s NYC theater stint as an actor that he fell in love with writing and penned my first series of scripts – “The Hungry Ones,” “Feverish” & “Smoke and Mirrors” - and thrived as an award-winning architect, designing buildings around the world for the acclaimed architecture firm of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, leading the practice of AHSC Architects as their Design Director and running his own firm, D.Arc Group, focused mostly on West-Coast projects. Painting, though always present as a design tool during his years as an architect, has become his latest obsession. With painting he gets to say things he couldn't put into words.
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“I've been always been involved in the arts - I was a television and film child-actor at an early age as well as a co-producer for the ‘Latin American Theater Festival’ while operating out of the well-established ‘Teatro Las Palmas’ in my native city of Caracas, Venezuela. Once in New York City, I pursued a degree in architecture from Syracuse University and attended both, music school at Parsons and acting at The Lee Strasberg Institute and the Actors Studio. I am currently, a novelist and screenwriter as well as a painter. Painting has become my latest obsession because through it I get to say things I just can't put into words.”
What inspires you?
“In the end, it's all about the human condition and the battles we take on while on this journey. The stories generated by these struggles is the juice behind my work. We may not notice but most of our time is spent flexing; constantly re-shaping who we are to better fit the landscape around us without losing who we are in the process - you know, remain faithful to our ethical and moral values. I never cared much about the medium - whether it's architecture, acting or writing, it was always about the story. But painting has a way of communicating a message that is more direct and visceral. Reconnecting with it has been a gift.”
What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?
“The work submitted for this feature is part of a series titled, ‘Clown 47’ - it's heavy political in nature, though at its core it focuses more on the human toll our failed immigration laws have yielded on displaced populations around the globe. I have been deeply touched by this issue as I, myself, am an immigrant: a mixture of Italian, french, Prussian and Chilean, but born and raised in Venezuela, which gives me a unique perspective on the subject. The pain and the horror inflicted on displaced migrants and refugees is more than what I could effectively put into words, so I painted it to the best of my abilities; not aiming at perfection, but rather a visceral connection with the audience. In order to effectively communicate my message, I painted both ends of the spectrum - on the one end, the displaced migrant, shown as three suffering mothers watching their lives and families being torn apart. And on the other, the impotent spectators - each experiencing the horror in their own particular way.”
How would you describe your work?
“I never really thought of my work as anything that would neatly fit in a box, but if I had to label it as anything specific, I'd say it's ‘expressionist’ in nature. It is more about the experience of the story than style and technique; so, if it isn't visceral, and impactful, I have failed.”
Which artists influence you most?
“Because I am more like an artistic mutt - architect, actor, musician, writer and painter - I couldn't answer the question without including a few masters from each one of these fields. They've all influenced or informed my work as a painter. Architects: Le Corbusier, Alvar Aalto, Giuseppe Terragni, Louis Kahn and Rem Koolhaas. Actors: Marlon Brando, Robert de Niro, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall and Daniel Day-Lewis. Musicians: Mozart, Vivaldi, Miles Davis, Sting, Marillion, Genesis, Chris Cornell and Black Sabbath. Writers: Charles Bukowski, Paul Auster, Hemingway, Jack Kerouac and Cormac McCarthy. Painters: Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro and Wassily Kandinski.”
“My work is more about the experience of the story than style and technique; so, if it isn't visceral, and impactful, I have failed.”
What is your creative process like?
“Because my body of work is mostly composed of series of six to eight paintings each, the work itself has to be both, clear and cohesive in concept and emotional and visceral in nature, preferably to something current that it's already occupying a large amount of real estate in my thoughts. If one of these two aspects feels weak, it won't work for me. Once I have found a subject matter that fits this criteria, it is all about selecting the best vessel to communicated the desired message; some can be best communicated through faces, hands or bodies, while others are best dealt with through action or simply color on a canvas. At some point, though, it all becomes more organic in nature and creative impulses take over. Lately, my work has been centered around black and white faces and hands because of the subject matters I've been exploring. This, I am sure, will change soon enough!”
What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?
“Artists are like journalists, and as such, bear the responsibility to speak to the rest of us about the state of the world we live in, loud and clear. I think of art as the world's cultural barometer, because holding the mirror to the people around you is the best way to communicate.”
