Alessandro Keegan

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.

His oil paintings and works on paper are windows into psychological realms made of abstracted geometric and organic imagery that are brought to life by unexpected color palettes. Suggestive of alchemical laboratories, futuristic encounters, and the mysterious physics of another dimension, this imagery is inspired by the artist’s visionary experiences as well as the personal cosmology he refers to as his Mystical Science.

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 art can be found in the permanent collection of the College of Psychic Studies, in London. In 2023, Keegan had his first solo exhibition in New York City at Waterhouse and Dodd Gallery. His most recent exhibition was at the Macau Museum of Art, as part of the Macau International Art Biennale in 2023.

Writings about his work have appeared in numerous publications including Artforum, Cultured Magazine, Artsy, ArtMaze Magazine, Elephant Magazine, and Colossal. Keegan’s work is featured in Robert Zeller’s “New Surrealism: The Uncanny in Contemporary Painting” published by Phaidon International in 2023. The short film, “The Matter of Mind”, released in 2020 by Full Moon Films., is a documentary about Keegan’s ideas and art practice.

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:

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.