Alessandro Pessoli on Two Decades of Ceramic Art Between Italy and Los Angeles

Alessandro Pessoli (born 1963 in Cervia, Italy) discusses his 18-year engagement with ceramics, from his accidental start at the first Albisola Ceramics Biennial in 2001, curated by Tiziana Casapietra and Roberto Costantino, to his current practice in Los Angeles. Initially using ceramics as an extension of drawing, with a focus on surface decoration and monochrome works like the circular composition '15-18' made of fifty white tiles, Pessoli later embraced vibrant color after 2003 while working at the Gatti workshop in Faenza. His move to Los Angeles shifted his palette toward flat, saturated hues inspired by his children's toys and 7-Eleven signs, while forms reference Italian masters Fausto Melotti and Arturo Martini, as well as Etruscan funerary ceramics. He produces his ceramics at California State University Long Beach (CSULB), facilitated by department head Tony Marsh, whom he met through gallerist Xavier Xufkens. Pessoli notes that ceramics in the US are often amateur-level, with professional facilities mainly in universities, contrasting with Italy's deep artisanal tradition. He describes his current work as a hybrid of memories, nostalgia, and freedom, reflecting his solitary condition as an Italian artist in America.