Alessandro Pessoli

Los Angeles-based artist Alessandro Pessoli is a cross-disciplinary artist who has gained international attention for his hauntingly expressive imagery, drawing from both his intimate, often subconscious, personal narrative and grander considerations for the media-saturated reality and the art historical framework that inform it. Utilizing a plethora of media, from brushwork and stencils to terracotta, Pessoli imbues his canvases and sculptures with a wealth of imagery, all connected by an emotional intensity. His chaotic compositions seem to be clumsily scattered collages, but upon closer inspection, exacting, photo realistic painting appears; he has a very delicate understanding of materiality. Pessoli’s works are rich in conflict - imbued with celebratory color yet strikingly dark in subject, featuring figures who are at once in ecstasy and in anguish, flippant and doomed - bopping in an inescapable, screwball universe. Pessoli’s recent body of work is ultimately celebratory, even if his characters are initially tormented by the state of a real and metaphysical world. Often playful guns and other weapons transform into sexual metaphors alongside fruit, and other symbols of life, nature, and innocence. With a nod to this child-like vision, Pessoli’s universe is doused in opulent color and iconography of popsicles, rainbows and butterflies. The obscure is juxtaposed with an enlightened and primal positivism. It’s the divergent emotive progressions of Pessoli’s narratives that keeps us submerged in his intricate, visual landscape. ...

The name P420 is inspired by Pantone 420, a universally recognized shade of grey known for its ability to serve as the perfect background, enhancing whatever it accompanies. P420 thus emerges as a platform whose primary aim is to embrace and elevate artistic ideas and expressions, fostering their harmonious coexistence within a context that supports, encourages, and celebrates diversity and innovation. Here, every voice can resonate powerfully and distinctly, much like a work of art standing out against the backdrop of Pantone 420. P420 has been instrumental in the rediscovery of artists such as Irma Blank, Laura Grisi, Ana Lupas, and Stephen Rosenthal, collaborating directly with the artists or, when necessary, with their heirs or the Estates representing them. Through exhibitions, off-site projects, fairs, and a strong online presence, the gallery also supports the evolving narratives of contemporary art, initiating and supporting the journey of many young emerging talents like Victor Fotso Nyie, Francis Offman, and Shafei Xia. ...