Biography
Francesco Gattuso is an artist based in Brooklyn, New York. His work has been shown nationally and internationally at Atelier Schloss Jägerhoff, in Düsseldorf, Germany. In 2020, Gattuso received his graduate degree from the Alfred/Düsseldorf MFA in Painting program. In July 2021, he attended the Mudhouse Residency program in Crete, Greece, and was an Artist in Residence at the Wassaic Project in Wassaic, NY that following winter. Through a practice that spans painting, drawing, and sculpture, Gattuso addresses the historical use of fantastical imagery in Western Society to reinforce rigid gender roles and ideas of race and color.
Artist Statement
Gattuso draws inspiration from classical European painting, Mediterranean folklore, tarot, and fantastical imagery to create works addressing issues of masculinity and colorism through figuration. Gattuso’s figures–– often twisted and at times monstrous––exists in interlapping spaces of sanity and lunacy, love and loss, vulnerability and strength. They seek to claim ownership over past actions and imposed assumptions, in hopes of creating healthy new futures.