BIG ARTS opens season with Alberto Chailosky exhibit

BIG ARTS opens the 2021-2022 fine arts season with sculpture artist Alberto Chailosky.
Chailosky’s exhibit, “Lost but Not Forgotten,” consists of miniature, mixed-media sculptures that depict important places of Chailosky’s past that, sadly, no longer exist, due to years of gentrification. However, the memories and stories these places held will remain forever within these works. The hope is that by memorializing them in sculpture, their cultural impact is preserved.
The exhibit opened on Oct. 22. There will be an artist talk and reception on Friday, Nov. 5 at 5 p.m. in BIG ARTS Dunham Family Gallery on Sanibel.
A virtual 3D tour of the exhibit is available online at www.bigarts.org as of Oct. 27.
A graduate of RISD and NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Chailosky has had an extensive career in the arts as a sculpture artist, graphic designer, and art director, including 11 successful years as a set designer for various Broadway shows and Saturday Night Live. “I have many inspirations from different times in my life. They have inspired me in different ways,” said Cholesky.
“My two earliest were when I was a young boy. First was one day after moving to the U.S. and watching color television, I saw magic! It was the opening scene to Mister Roger’s Neighborhood. The camera panned through this amazing miniature city and ended up watching a trolley car, which transitions to Mister Rogers’ house. I get chills to this day watching that scene. The second was also as a young boy a bit later when I saw pictures of Red Groom’s “Ruckus Manhattan.” I also got into miniatures through the theatre world. This led me to one eventful day when I met Hal Prince and he introduced me to one of the greatest set designers of all time, Eugene Lee. Eugene became a major influence, and I assisted him on many Broadway shows and Saturday Night Live.”
For Chailosky, his “Lost but Not Forgotten” exhibit is both a historical trip and an autobiographical adventure of the late ’80s and ’90s. “The very first thing I do when starting a piece is pick the place I want to sculpt and the story I want to tell. I’m not interested in doing random places. My story is just as important as the art. Each sculpture is both a work of art and a piece of my life and a story of me,” Chailosky explained.