Italy
• 1974
Biography
Alessandro Gallo is a contemporary Italian artist known for his surreal anthropomorphic sculptures that blend human bodies with animal heads. Originally from Genoa and now based in Helena, Montana, Gallo studied fine art in London after earning a law degree in Italy. He gained recognition in Europe for his clay sculptures—donkeys in suits, vultures in everyday settings, frogs with shopping bags—highlighting the blurred lines between human behavior and animal instincts.
Gallo begins each piece by photographing a model from multiple angles, combining those images with animal references to create hyperrealistic, hybrid creatures. His works are rooted in realism, complete with tattoos and folded clothing, yet evoke a sense of the surreal through their hybrid forms. He considers clay the perfect medium for its tactile complexity—both fragile and durable. Alongside sculpture, he continues to paint, draw, and produce digital collages turned into screen prints in his Genoa studio.
His work has been shown worldwide, including solo exhibitions in London, Genoa, Seattle, and St. Louis, and group shows at the Saatchi Gallery, Barry Friedman Gallery, and the Venice Biennale. He's completed artist residencies in Japan, the U.S., and Italy, and won the prestigious Virginia A. Groot Foundation award in 2012. Gallo's strange yet familiar figures—like a snake reading a newspaper—challenge viewers to reflect on identity, instinct, and the absurdity of everyday life.
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