Alex Folla exhibited at Galleria Gagliardi in 2012.
He is graduated in painting in Academy of Art of Brera (Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera).
Master of visual Arts at Academy of Fine Art of Carrara (Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara).
Alex Folla’s art has always been rooted in the most archaic of Italian traditions. It is erudite art, profoundly intellectual yet proudly technical, crafty, capable of nourishing and feeding itself voraciously, capable of making its own and transforming into pigments"in a lively and pulsating form of painting and drawing"the lines drawn by the master painters of the fourteenth and fifteenth century of Italy, and up and up until reaching, for certain aspects, the Mannerism and the seventeenth century. However, beyond that he cannot see except for brief moments, for rare, intense yet passionate instants, because from the seventeenth century on, for him, most of the art in Italy and Europe becomes fatally school, a repetition that is an end in itself, a futile exercise of style, soulless and heartless. From the ancient masters of painting"not only those protagonist of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, but also those who were minor artists, forgotten and left behind by art history"Alex Folla voraciously and tirelessly learns the techniques, the way of mixing or dosing the colors, the composition, the ability to model through almost unperceivable shots of light and delicate paintbrush touches, at times a drapery, a facial expression, a game of compositions or the effect of depth. However, what truly interests and intrigues him is something else. It is something else that this artist"both authentic and passionate, very well-read and in love with the painting techniques of the ancient times, so very much an omnivore in his interests and tastes"looks up to and aspires to, including the most popular and contemporary art. He boasts a classical talent in the amplest and deepest sense of the word; his is an attempt to create, like the masters of the past, a world and a universe of symbols, which would enclose, in a single altar-piece or board, or in a single project, both the contemporary world and underlining and enveloping forest of symbols of the approach to the universal themes of their modern day (death, suffering, pain, joy, holiness, love, hate, war, etc.) and the thousands of tributaries of that symbolic universe that the philosophers, the wise, the theologians, the researchers, the artists had stitched and built all around them. He boasts the ability to foresee and to express the carefree spirit of the crazies and of the artists, who, in a sudden epiphany can"almost against their will"find the unexpected links between the works of the past and the ruins of history, with the substrate"whether aware or unaware"the links of legends, myths, popular beliefs and factoids that history has left on its bumpy path.
Solo exhibitions
2018
Moscow, Russia, Triumph Gallery, “#Football Prayers”, solo show, text by Alessandro Riva
Lucca,Italy, "LuccaArtFair", International fair of gallery of contemporary art
2017
Napoli, Italy, Underground Naples "#unknownmonk 3.0", solo show, curated by Angelo Crespi.
2016
Los Angeles, USA, Building Bridge Gallery, "bulleTime", solo show curated by Marisa Caichiolo, introduction by Peter Frank.
Los Angeles, USA, Italian Institute of Culture "#unknownmonk 2.0", solo show, in collaboration with J. Paul Getty Museum, introduction by Bryan Keene.
2015
Moscow, Russia, Triumph Gallery, “#unknownmonk”, solo show, text by Alessandro Riva.
2014
St. Petersburg, Russia, Savina Gallery, “Football Prayers", solo show.
Forte dei Marmi, Italy, Villa Bertelli, “Lepidoptera, solo show, text by Angelo Crespi
Moscow, Russia, Triumph Gallery, “Miracles”, solo show, text by Alessandro Riva
2013
Milan, Italy, Union Gallery, “Black and White”, solo show
Group exhibitions
2018
Los Angeles, USA, "LAArtShow2016", International fair of gallery of contemporary art.
Firenze, Italy, Eclettico Spazi d’Arte, "Caravaggismo Eclettico", curated by Matteo Graniti, Pietro Quattriglia Venneri.
Marsala, Italy, "L'evoluzione del Caravaggismo nell'arte contemporanea", curated by Franco Paliaga.
2017
Montestigliano, Italy, "Legacy - A Tuscan Tale", curated byMatteo Graniti, Pietro Quattriglia Venneri
New Dehli, India, "Mediatic Dreams", curated by Jitendra Padam Jain
Dresden, Germany, "Ostrale 17", biennale of contemporary art
Lucca, Italy, "Lucca Art Fair", international fair of gallery of contemporary art
Los Angeles, USA, "LAArtShow2016", International fair of gallery of contemporary art
Firenze, Italy, EcletticoSpazid’Arte, "Sinners since 1531", curated by Matteo Graniti, Pietro QuattrigliaVenneri
2016
St Louis, USA, “La Bottega Italiana”, Workshop at Fontbonne University
Napoli, Italy, Castel dell’Ovo"The Silk Road", curated by Alessandro Riva, JiShaofeng
Barcelona, Spain, "Swab", international fair of gallery of contemporary art
Milano, Italy, Open Art Gallery, "#unknownmonk2.0", curated by Giuseppe Villani
Pietrasanta, Italy, "CORPUS LUX", curated by Matteo Graniti, Pietro Quattriglia Venneri
Castellabate, Italy, "Genius Loci", curated by Vittorio Sgarbi
Lajatico, Italy, "Contemporary Archetypes", curated by Matteo Graniti, critic by Pietro Quattriglia Venneri
Los Angeles, USA, "LA Art Show 2016", international fair of gallery of contemporary art
2015
Messina, Italy, Monte di Pietà, “The other face of Superheroes", curated by Silvia Fabbri
Istanbul, Turkey, "Contemporary isanbul", international fair of gallery of contemporary art
St Louis, USA, “Bullet Time”, Workshop at Fontbonne University
Taormina, Italy, Mazzullo Foundation, “Futuro Classico", curated by Silvia Fabbri
Barcelona, Spain, "Swab", international fair of gallery of contemporary art
2014
New Dehli, India, "Alla Prima", international fair of gallery of contemporary art
Barcelona, Spain, "Swab", international fair of gallery of contemporary art
Pietrasanta, Italy, Gestalt Gallery - Palazzo Leonardi, “Superheroes2.0”, text by Silvia Fabbri
2013
Pietrasanta, Italy, Gestalt Gallery, Spazio F
2012
Reggio Emilia, Italy, "ArtQuke", text by Alberto Agazzani
2011
Bergamo, Italy, "BAF" International fair of gallery of contemporary art
2010
Miami, USA, "Exhibitalia", Art Basel Miami Beach
Roma, Italy, First Gallery, Italian Factory Prize
Catania, Italy, LIBRA Gallery, "Less is More", text by Alberto Agazzani
Verona, Italy, "ArtVerona10", International fair of gallery of contemporary art
Pavarolo (TO), Italy, Castello di Pavarolo, "VII International Biennial of Painting Prize FeliceCasorati"
Gorlago (BG), Italy, "National Competition Award Engraving"
Monsummano Terme (PT), Italy, Villa Renatico Martini, "VI International Biennial of Engraving Prize"
Mirandola (MO), Italy, Castello Dei Pico, winner "Volturno Morani Prize"
2009
Catania, Italy, LIBRA Gallery, "Altre Contemplazioni", text by Alberto Agazza