Biography:
Alessandro Keegan is a visual artist, writer and art history professor with an MFA in painting and drawing from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a MA in art history from Brooklyn College. Keegan, who has training as a gemologist, worked at the Gemological Institute of America in New York until 2012, while completing his education. He currently lives and works in the Hudson Valley town of Walden, New York.
Keegan’s paintings have been exhibited in New York, Chicago, London, Barcelona, Hong Kong, Macau, The Hague, and many other cities around the world. His most recent exhibition was in the group show “Fruit and Fruition” at Grimm Gallery in New York City.
Writings about his work have appeared in Artsy, ArtMaze Magazine, Artforum, Cultured Magazine, Elephant Magazine, Masthead Magazine, Helvete, J’ai Froid and the 2023 book “New Surrealism: The Uncanny in Contemporary Painting” published by Phaidon International.
Keegan’s oil paintings, classified by some writers as “Non-Objective Surrealism”, straddle the line between abstract and representational forms. Building upon a historical language of Romanticism, Transcendentalist painting, and early Abstract Expressionism, Keegan has created a visionary language and a layered oil painting technique that is unique to his work.
Alessandro Keegan
Studio.A.Keegan@gmail.com
EDUCATION:
2018 MA, Brooklyn College, Art History
2005 MFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Painting and Drawing
2003 BFA, State University of New York at Purchase, Painting
EXHIBITIONS:
2025: (Forthcoming) “A Mysterious Vision (Part 2)”, Robilant & Voena, Milan, Italy.
(Forthcoming) “A Mysterious Vision”, Robilant & Voena, New York, NY.
(Forthcoming) “Ethereal”, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, Berlin, Germany.
2024: “Holiday”, Harper’s Chelsea 512, New York, NY.
“Group Show Part 01”, Untitled Void Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
“Fruit and Fruition” (Curated by Angela Heisch), Grimm Gallery, New York, NY
2023: “Art Macao: Macao International Art Biennale 2023”, Macao Museum of Art, Macau, China.
“After the Rain”, Waterhouse and Dodd, New York, NY. (Solo show)
Art Palm Beach, Waterhouse and Dodd, West Palm Beach, FL
Splendor of the Sun, Galerie du Monde, Hong Kong
2022: Art Miami, Waterhouse and Dodd, Miami, FL
Creative Spirits, The College of Psychic Studies, London, UK
Beam Me Up, 5-50 Gallery, Queens, NY
A Window Scrubbed for the Moon, Asya Geisberg Gallery, New York, NY
Alpha 60, Cyberarts Gallery, Boston, MA
Vanguards, Unit London, London, UK
Cabinet of the Solar Plexus: The Liminal and the Marvelous, Gallery X, Dublin, Ireland
That Wilderness Inside, Prior Art Space, Barcelona, Spain
Matches Struck Unexpectedly in the Dark, Oneroom Gallery, London, UK
2021: Vigils/ Low Tides, Historic Hudson Opera House, Hudson, NY
2020: Equilibrium of Energies, Mother Gallery (online exhibit), New York, NY
Solitaire, PROTO Gallery (online exhibit), Hoboken, NY
2019: Heed, (two person show with Angela Heisch), Transmitter, Brooklyn, NY
Fractal Labyrinth, Rosenberg Gallery of New York University, New York, NY
Tools, Totems and Traps, Mother Gallery, Beacon, NY
2018: In Form, Shirley Fiterman Art Center, New York, NY
Gungywamp, 42 Social Club, Lyme, CT
Mist Wreathed, Spring/ Break Art Show 2018, New York, NY
In The Studio, Shirley Fiterman Art Center, New York NY
2017: Bleeding Black Noise (Part 2), Locatie Z, The Hague,Netherlands
2016: Geo Necro, ADA Gallery, Richmond VA
Bleeding Black Noise (Part 1), Sector 2337, Chicago, IL
2015: On the Inner and Outer Self, Church of St. Paul the Apostle, New York NY
Lesser Deities of Summer, Underdonk, Brooklyn NY
Ray-Jewel, Pioneers of Inspiration, Brooklyn NY
The Palace, Magic Pictures, Philadelphia PA
PUBLICATIONS:
2023: “From the Stars or the Booming Labyrinth of the Mind: UFOs, Memories, and Myths”, in Enchanted Pedagogies: Archetypes, Magic, and Knowledge. Edited by Kari Adelaide Razdow. Brill Publishers, October 2023
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
2023: Ebert, Grace. “A Trippy New Book Surveys 100 Years of Art since the Birth of the Surrealist Movement.” Colossal, 7 Dec. 2023, www.thisiscolossal.com/2023/12/new-surrealism-robert-zeller/
Zeller, Robert, “New Surrealism: The Uncanny in Contemporary Painting”, Monacelli Press/Phaidon International. December 2023.
Stone, Amelia. “Want a Solo Gallery Show? These Artists Will Tell You How.” Cutlured Mag, www.culturedmag.com/article/2023/06/22/almendra-bertoni-tiffany-wellington-yo-chow-alessandro-keegan. Accessed 24 Dec. 2023.
Laurens, Morgan. “Into the Mystic: Alessandro Keegan Shares His Lucid Vision”, Not Real Art Blog, February 23, 2023. https://notrealart.com/alessandro-keegan/
Rhodes, Colin. “Creative Spirits”, Raw Vision, Winter 2022/2023, p.113. South Hackensack, NJ, USA, print.
2022: Gay, Adeola. “5 Artists on Our Radar in August 2022”, Artsy, August 1, 2022. https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-5-artists-radar-august-2022
Editorial Selection, ArtMaze Magazine, Edition 27, 2022, pp.7, 114-115. London, UK. Print.
Mahaver, Jagrati. "Alessandro Keegan: An Interview." Coeval Magazine, March 2022. https://www.coeval-magazine.com/coeval/alessandro-keegan
2020: Fulleylove, Rebecca. “These Jewel-Like Compositions Celebrate the Organic ‘Aliveness’ of Oil Paint.” Elephant Magazine, June 2020. https://elephant.art/alessandro-keegan-oil-paint-geometric-interview-10062020/
2019: Masthead Op-Ed, “Alessandro Keegan.” Masthead Magazine, 2019. https://www.mastheadmagazine.com/op-ed/alessandro-keegan
Shoenberger, Elisa. “Conjuring up Spirit Photography: Magic in Photography.” Books and Paper Fairs, October 2019. https://www.bookandpaperfairs.com/blog/2019/10/3/conjuring-up-spirit-photography-magic-in-photography
Chidester, Brian. "Alessandro Keegan.” Ephemera NYC, February 2019. http://nyc.ephemera-art.com/alessandro-keegan-2/
Sasha Frere-Jones, “Angela Heisch and Alessandro Keegan at Transmitter” Artforum, January 2019. https://www.artforum.com/picks/angela-heisch-and-alessandro-keegan-78438
2016: Ishmael, Amelia. "Bleeding Black Noise" Helvete: Issue 3 (Punctum Books, Brooklyn)
2014: Boije af Gennas, Staffan and Amelia Ishmael "Mediating Darkness" J'ai Froid May/August, no.4: 16-17. (Castillo/ Corrales, Paris)
2013: Ishmael, Amelia "The night is no longer dead; it has a life of its own" Helvete: Issue 1 (Punctum Books, Brooklyn)
Related Career Experience:
Adjunct Professor of Art History at Borough of Manhattan Community College, 2016-Present.
Adjunct Lecturer of Art History at Brooklyn College, 2018-2021.
Diamond Grader at The Gemological Institute of America, New York, NY, 2011-2013.