4me4you recently stepped inside the ever-inspiring BSMT Gallery to experience “BARDO”, a captivating solo show by the acclaimed artist ALO.
London-based painter ALO (Aristide Loria) returned to BSMT with ‘BARDO’, showcasing a new body of work created between 2024 and 2025. Often referred to as the Urban Expressionist, ALO brings Fine Art into an urban context, making it both accessible and profound.
His practice reveals the human condition through intricate patterns, rhythmic linework and subtly coded symbols, reflecting the delicate balance between studio and street, anonymity and presence.
Taking its title from the idea of a liminal passage, ‘BARDO’ explores the space between moments, states that feel both immediate and timeless.
The figures within his paintings seem suspended in contemplation, surrounded by fragments of city life and fleeting glimpses of the natural world.
Each composition becomes a quiet encounter: intimate yet public, delicate yet insistent, personal yet archetypal.
Although primarily a studio-based painter, ALO’s signature hand is instantly recognisable. Working with brushes, paint and pens, never spray cans, he creates surfaces rich with tactility.
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This traditional approach contrasts the urban environments his works inhabit, yet they merge seamlessly with their surroundings, as if they have always belonged there.
His vivid palettes, layered textures and distinctive linework continue to blur the boundaries between Street Culture and Fine Art.
Notably, very few of ALO’s outdoor pieces are created with permission, and he receives no payment for them.
