Alek O.

Alek O. (b. 1981, Buenos Aires) currently lives and works in Milan, Italy. Her practice revolves around how objects are capable of retaining their past histories in their material nature. Her process consists of taking apart everyday items such as jumpers, coins, and umbrellas, and recycling them, presenting them as handcrafted artworks.  Despite the original objects disappears; their material is transformed giving a new life to what was once an abandoned object.

Hence, the objects she picks up and reuses are not represented but directly present in her practice. They have been transformed, its material has been rearranged. Although this process is mainly determined by the nature of the object, Alek O. is in control of the composition of the pieces: she chooses the format of the canvas, the geometry, and volume of each artwork. 

Alek O. Currently lives and works in Milan, where she graduated in Design from Politecnico. Recent solo exhibitions include Some Idiot Went to London (2022); L’impero delle luci, Frutta, Rome (2017); Time Goes By So Slowly, Jeanine Hofland, Amsterdam (2016); Frieze Focus, London (2014); Recent group exhibitions include There is a crack, a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in, Martina Simeti Gallery, Milan, (2022); 2021 – To Situations New, curated by Jenn Ellis, LAMB, London (2021), Io dico Io - I say I, curated by Cecilia Canziani, Lara Conte e Paola Ugolini, Galleria, Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e contemporanea, Rome (2020).