Growing up in an environment where self-expression was questioned, Bayo Alvaro developed an intuitive method of negotiating competing modes of identity from a young age. Through the weaving of rope, Alvaro sought to render a fluid sense of self in a space that favored archaic, conservative constructs. “In a way, art-making saved me,” Alvaro says. “It was a natural part of my life for as long as I can remember.” The personal discoveries he made throughout his adolescence would serve as the blueprint for his mature practice. 

Alvaro fuses insulation, foam, vinyl, metal and homemade pastes into rhythmic, botanical sculptures. The physical process of his practice is a constant back-and-forth and almost defiant conversation between the artist and the material. He moves his body around the metal to bend it and it retorts back; he manipulates the paper into tubes and it unfolds; he massages the paste onto rope and it opposingly expands. The physical tension that is inevitable in Bayo’s practice becomes an extension of his greater investigation into questions of the body.

Oscillating between the muscular and the delicate, Alvaro’s sculptures reflect a process of constant flux: soft textiles are constrained with hardened wax, and industrial mediums are relieved by organic forms. What remains with the viewer is a raw reflection of what is possible when contradictory elements find a way to influence one another and coexist together. 

Alvaro received a BFA from the Institut de Beaux-Arts de Toulouse, and subsequently received an MFA from the École Superièure de Beaux-Art de Paris Cergy. His most recent solo show was at Deli Gallery, Mexico City (2023), and he has been included in solo and group exhibitions internationally in Mexico City, MX; Jalisco, MX; Leon, MX; Paris, FR; New York City, US; Amsterdam, NL; Barcelona, ES; and Marrakesh, MA. Alvaro received the JC Escultura FONCA Grant in 2022, and has recently participated in residency programs, such as Residencia Ceramica de 4A in Tlahuelilpan, MX (2023); Khial Nkhel Art Program in Marrakech, MA (2020); and Le Local Associatif in Arles, FR (2018). 

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