Site-specific Projects
Biological Regionalism: Lower Falls, Genesee River, Rochester, NY
Fourth Rochester Biennial Invitational exhibition and brochure
Grand Gallery, Rochester, NY
December 2009/ July 25–September 26, 2010
This exhibition includes a site-specific installation of two paintings and a video from the Biological Regionalism Series and three paintings from the Aesthetics of Death Series. These works from the Biological Regionalism Series investigates the historically-significant section of the Genesee River above Seth Green Island and the migrating steelhead trout species from Lake Ontario.
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Artist’s comments about the installation
Transcript of artist’s comments
Biological Regionalism: Ellicott Creek, Amherst, NY
Solo exhibition and brochure
Lightwell Gallery, Center for the Arts, University of Buffalo, NY
August 2009/ March-May 2010 2010
This exhibition at The University of Buffalo is a continuation of his Biological Regionalism series in which he attempts to reestablish a connection to local landscapes and wildlife by documenting fish species found in bodies of water near the exhibition venue through video and traditional piscatorial painting. This exhibition examines Ellicott Creek located on the edge of UB’s north campus. The underwater source material for the paintings and large-scale projections captures the opalescent colors and balletic movements of largemouth bass during their annual migration and the constantly moving and changing environment where they are found. The three videos document the environment above the above, around and below the migrating largemouth bass.
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Ellicott Creek Brochure
Biological Regionalism: Weinberg Creek, Bemus Point, NY
Bemus Point, NY
Spring 2010 – 2011
This project documents a specific section of Weinberg Creek through four seasons.
Biological Regionalism: Big Mary’s Creek, Vesuvius, VA
“Life, Death and Beauty” solo exhibition and catalogue
Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA
May / October 2008
For a few days in early May of 2008, Alberto completed the first of a two-part residency at Washington and Lee University. W and L students, gallery director, Dinah Ryan, and Alberto met with three biologists to explore the plants and native fish found in a secluded section of Big Mary’s Creek in the town of Vesuvius which is located a few miles outside of campus. The students documented their findings with their cameras and sketchbooks. The following day, the students used their reference material during a drawing workshop. The students created 22 x 30 inch drawings that depicted their experiences at Big Mary’s Creek. Upon returning back to his studio, Alberto worked on two Biological Regionalism: Big Mary’s Creek paintings, a video and a new body of site-specific work for the Aesthetic of Death Series. These new works were exhibited in the October of 2008 at the Stanair Gallery at W and L University. The student drawings from the drawing workshop in the spring were presented in an adjacent gallery. Alberto completed the second part of his residency during the week of the exhibition’s opening. He presented a lecture on his work from the past 20 years as well as another lecture discussing the connection between his videos and his paintings. Alberto also took two groups of students to Wood’s Creek (located on campus) to create sketches and collect samples of the environment. He then brought the students back to the studios where he presented drawing workshops that incorporated the reference materials they had collected from nature.
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Images From Big Mary’s Creek Field Trip
Images From Big Mary’s Creek Drawing Workshop
Images from Wood’s Creek field trip and workshop
Alberto’s lecture about his work
“Life, Death and Beauty” exhibition catalog (4.2 meg PDF download)
Biological Regionalism: Atlantic Cod, Salem, MA
Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA
February/April 2007
During a weeklong residency at the museum, Alberto presented a video briefly describing his past work and its connection to the region. The video also outlined the influence of the Atlantic cod’s influence on the economy on the Northeast. Along with the video, he also exhibited sketchbooks, color studies and photographs used to create his paintings. paintings and examples of his work. The video created background information for the eight-foot painting he created of an Atlantic cod. He also presented daily drawing and painting workshops that incorporated objects from the museum’s collections and fish species that were indigenous to specific regions of the United States.
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Painting and Studio Images
Drawing from Sketchbook and Workshop Images
Create your own Fish Species Workshop Images
Cascade Range Bulltrout Documentation Project
Portland, Oregon
September 2006
Alberto was asked by the CRAG Law Center, a law center that supports efforts to protect and sustain the Pacific Northwest’s natural legacy, to work with them in locating and documenting the threatened bulltrout of the Cascade Range. During a six-day residency, Alberto explored several rivers with regional experts and were successful in documenting two examples of the species. Alberto returned to western New York where he used his references from the trip to produced a painting for the CRAG’s publication purposes.
Local Species Project
University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA
January, 2006
Alberto traveled to UVa to work on a residency that brought together the efforts of community and conservation groups, private/public educational programs and university students and staff to create a series of one-of-a-kind illustrated books. The books reflected the images ( flowers, insects, fish, etc.) remembered or documented from educational field trips to a local stream that was home to an endangered brook trout species.