Alessandro Costagliola

Alessandro Costagliola was born in Palermo on October 31, 1984. Since he was a child he showed a propensity for drawing and manipulation. He attended the State Institute of Art and graduated in sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Palermo in 2008. During the years of the Academy, under the guidance of Salvatore Rizzuti, he discovered a passion for figurative art. The teacher frames him in a rigid classical scheme giving him the tools to diligently restore and reproduce the canons of the past. In 2012, in an attempt to get rid of some academic work, he decides to post an online ad complete with photos. He was immediately contacted by the nuclear engineer and Palermo art connoisseur Ugo Marchese who bought them all to furnish his holiday home. Upon delivery of the works, Mr. Marchese, understands that in addition to his ability and technique, the boy is gifted with great talent, so he decides to present him to the Palermo gallery owner Laura Boscia. From the very first meeting, the gallery owner tries to guide the artist on the choice of the theme and on the needs of the market by providing numerous food for thought, thus the theme of the “Child’s Game” was born. Costagliola, with the intention of ridiculing classical art and questioning everything he had studied, creates virile naked men in terracotta intent on actions typical of childhood games.