Arts for ACT Gallery will feature artist Francesco Gillia in February. An opening reception will be held Friday, Feb. 4 from 6 to 9 p.m. in conjunction with Fort Myers art Walk.
Francesco Gillia was born in Monte Porzio Catone in the province of Rome, Italy. He studied painting at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma.
After graduation, he moved to California working as a designer for Powerline 6, a strategy, branding and design company. Three years later, he started Bottega Montana with his brother. They designed and manufactured pieces for Paul Smith, Obey Giant, DWR and others. Their Bottega Montana’s furniture line unique joint system has been featured along with their high-end longboard designs in the New York Times, LA Time, GQ Italy, Dwell, and many others. Some of their clients included Lamar Odom, Khloe Kardashian and Paul Smith.
Despite the successes of Bottega Montana, Francesco decided to return to his first love: painting. He received a Master of Fine Arts from Montana State University. Francesco’s MFA thesis, Pronaos, was an installation of sixteen oil paintings of large-scale, frontal female nudes. Now in Florida since 2014 and the sacred view of the body transitioned to the abstracted representation of wings, in acrylics with gilded backgrounds.
Francesco is an adjunct professor at St. Petersburg College. He is also a drawing, life drawing and painting instructor on Sanibel, Fort Myers, Bonita Springs and Naples.
This exhibit “Love is Blind” features blind nude drawings.
Arts for ACT Gallery is located at 2265 First St. in downtown Fort Myers. Contact the gallery at 239-337-5050 for more information.
