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On the occasion of the Cork Street Centenary exhibition ‘Fear Gives Wings to Courage’, curated by Tarini Malik, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Royal Academy of Arts, Alison Jacques presents a solo presentation of new paintings by Alessandro Raho (b.1971, Nassau, Bahamas; lives and works in Hastings, UK).
Drawn to the fairy-tale quality of pop culture, symbols, icons and landscapes, Raho explores the transformation of domestic scenes and objects, imbued with nostalgia and desire. Placed between the real and surreal, the intimate and distant, the natural and artificial, Raho explores the nature of illusion, offering us a window into the uncanny of the everyday.
In 1995, Raho was included in the Young British Artists (YBAs) landmark exhibition ‘Brilliant!’ at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. In 2004, he was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery in London to paint the British actress Dame Judi Dench.
Raho has recently been included in exhibitions at The Flag Art Foundation, New York and the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles. In 2023, Mark Leckey invited Raho to exhibit a solo presentation of new work at Turner Contemporary, Margate. His work has been acquired by major museums including Tate; The British Museum; National Portrait Gallery, London; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Seattle Museum of Art and the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis.
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