In her practice Alek O. (Born in Buenos Aires, 1981. Lives and works in Milan.) blends the common notion of the readymade with craft, embroidery and other traditional art-making forms. On the verge between transformation and conservation, Alek O. strips the objects’ common visual aspects and replaces them with geometric abstraction. Reversing the perspective of design, Alek O. favours re-creation over creation and deconstruction over construction.
The objects, chosen for their emotional quality, are salvaged from their original, usually domestic use: wood from a bookshelf, metal from a discarded key, wool from a sweater or a pair of gloves. Thus, the works function as metonymy for the artist, or the people who had a connection with the material. The imprint on her sculpted material of those who owned it or used it represents an important aspect of Alek O’s work as it encapsulates a series of questions/suggestions where memory, affection, nostalgia and the carefully considered loss of interpretive information converge to create an open poetic gesture. « Fundamentally, all of Alek O.’s art is an invitation to open up to observing reality and allow ourselves to be convinced that everything, be it an image, object or thought, can be renamed without losing meaning, but acquiring others ».

Milan

Prague Biennale

Prague

Buenos Aires

Turin

Artissima

Verona

Artverona

Martina Simeti

Rome

Frutta

Brussels

Rodolphe Janssen

Rio de Janeiro

Silvia Cintra + Box 4

Stockholm

Carl Kostyal

Pistoia

Spazioa Gallery

Naples

Lia Rumma

Vienna

Galerie Andreas Huber

Berlin

Supportico Lopez

Francesca Minini

New York City

Marianne Boesky

Meessen De Clercq

London

Gallery Vela

Norma Mangione

Amsterdam

Annet Gelink Gallery

Lisson Gallery

Nomas Foundation

Madrid

Matadero Madrid – Centro De Creación Contemporánea

Palazzo Delle Esposizioni

Macro

Genoa

Museo D'Arte Contemporanea Villa Croce

Museo Di Capodimonte

Venice

Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa

Palazzo Reale

Prato

Centro Pecci

Tirana

National Gallery of Arts (Tirana)

Paris

Fondation Cartier Pour L'Art Contemporain

Alek O.

Ehi Siri, Lumos

Gran Hotel XIII

Gran Hotel IX

Gran Hotel VII