Artist's blog by contemporary portrait painter Peter D'Alessandri

23/01/201923/01/2019

Missing in Moscow

This is the poster I shared on social media, when my painting “Michael” went missing on its return from a show in Moscow. My painting, along with over a dozen others, were being shipped back to London, to the co-organisers of the event here. Somewhere enroute, the box containing all the artworks was damaged, half the artworks were reboxed, given a new tracking number, and found their way successfully to London. The remaining artworks have disappeared into some limbo between the Russian and British courier companies. Each side is blaming the other, with neither accepting liability. All the time treating the lost “items” with about as much sympathy as they would deal with a lost book or DVD.
With my painting now lost to me, part of me hopes that it has been stolen, and is hanging on someone’s wall, giving them pleasure. The terrible truth is that it has most likely been mashed up by a clumsy forklift driver, and thrown in the bin like it was a dirty pair of socks.

15/01/2019

Nude or Fully Clothed

The opening night of “Nude or Fully Clothed” at Nude Tin Can Gallery in St Albans went very well. Very pleased to make a sale, which always puts me in a good mood. But also it was such a well organised event (busy, but not overly crowded), that the whole evening shot by, with plenty of interesting conversations.
I should add that the journey to St Albans was surprisingly easy – less than 30mins on Thameslink from St Pancras. The exhibition continues until the 29th January, and is well worth a visit.

27/11/2018

London Ultra 2018

I’ll be showing my diptych “unnamed portraits” in the London Ultra exhibition at The Bargehouse, London SE1 9PH. The show runs from the 6th to the 9th December, 11.00-18.00. Preview party is on the 6th December, 18.00-21.00.

20/11/201831/10/2023

Present, Perfect, Continuous

Moscow art exhibition

“Present Perfect Continuous”, hosted by Zverev Contemporary Art Centre in Moscow, has just finished. This show was a collaboration between artnumber23 here in London, and the Zverev Contemporary Art Centre. My contribution to the show was my portrait “Michael”, which the organisers kindly placed in a frame before showing.

Update – Missing in Moscow

This is the poster I shared on social media, when my painting “Michael” went missing on its return from a show in Moscow. My painting, along with over a dozen others, were being shipped back to London, to the co-organisers of the event here. Somewhere enroute, the box containing all the artworks was damaged, half the artworks were reboxed, given a new tracking number, and found their way successfully to London. The remaining artworks have disappeared into some limbo between the Russian and British courier companies. Each side is blaming the other, with neither accepting liability. All the time treating the lost “items” with about as much sympathy as they would deal with a lost book or DVD. With my painting now lost to me, part of me hopes that it has been stolen, and is hanging on someone’s wall, giving them pleasure. The terrible truth is that it has most likely been mashed up by a clumsy forklift driver, and thrown in the bin like it was a dirty pair of socks.

05/08/201818/09/2018

Open Studio 2018

Well, this years open studio event at Leegate House has been and gone. Many thanks to those that made the journey to this little corner of southeast London. Thankfully the heatwave abated, just for the day, and we didn’t all melt in our studios.

These open studios events are a prerequisite for studio providers to maintain their charitable status – to demonstrate they’re “engaging with the community”. In my experience, many studio providers will only make a token effort, and most artists will see it as an inconvenience.
I’m pleased to say that Bow Arts treated this event with a lot more enthusiasm than some other studio providers I’ve been involved with; as did most of the artists here in Leegate House – it was the most enjoyable open studio that I’ve taken part in. Some of the nicest conversations I had were with local people who’d seen a flyer in the local Sainsburys, and thought “I must go along to that”. I spend most of my time locked away alone in this room on the fifth floor. It’s actually quite nice opening the doors to the public once a year.