Alo (Aristide Loria), often called the Urban Expressionist, has brought Fine Art into an urban context in a deliberate move to make it accessible to a wider audience. His portraits are subtle, delicate and speak of the human condition through a series of patterns and visual clues. There is a marked sense of past and present in his pieces through the essence of his characters who are captured in a moment frozen in time, much like the transitory nature of a city and its inhabitants.
Primarily a studio-based painter, Alo has a highly recognisable style employing the use of traditional painting techniques using brushes and paint for both his indoor and outdoor creations. He avoids the use of spray cans at all costs, focusing rather on an aesthetic that is quite unrelated to Urban Art. Very few of Alo’s Street pieces are painted with permission and he is not paid for his creations, maintaining his philosophy that public art should be free and accessible to all.
Based on his ongoing research into mankind through portraiture, this new body of work will also feature larger scale canvases and paper works as well as a new exploration into urban landscapes.
Original paintings and works on paper by Alo are available to purchase at BSMT Gallery, 529 Kingsland Road, Dalston, East London. As one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary urban art, Alo's studio-based practice bridges fine art and street culture in a way that few artists achieve."
