ALO Returns to BSMT Space with BARDO

Hackney-based Italian painter ALO returns to BSMT Space with BARDO. The solo show features 33 new works created across 2024–2025.

ALO’s work thrives on tension. The space between anonymity and presence, stillness and movement. Street wall versus reflective canvas.

Between Studio and Street

In interviews, he has spoken about obsession as the core of his practice. Waking up thinking about art and pushing forward regardless of permission. This drive fuels BARDO and much of his work.

Street Art

Unlike many street artists, ALO rarely uses spray cans. He paints with brushes, pens, and paint. His outdoor interventions have a tactile element to them. They blend into London streets as though they’ve always been there.

Free & Accessible

As an artist, ALO has always believed that public art should remain free and accessible. Few of his street works are commissioned or created with permission.

BARDO by ALO

The exhibition is named after the Tibetan concept of the BARDO, a threshold between worlds. Figures pause mid-thought. Fragments of cityscapes and glimpses of nature drift into view. Each painting feeling like a quiet encounter. Delicate, insistent, and charged with meaning.

Human Stories

ALO is drawn to human stories and memory. Motifs appear throughout BARDO, connecting the everyday with the archetypal, the observed with the imagined.

ALO’s Signature Language

Vivid palettes, layered textures, and intricate linework define ALO’s visual language. His portraits hint at biography without revealing it fully. Faces, whether on canvas or a wall, are never frozen, always in transition.

Patterns and Lines

Patterns, lines and subtle symbolism capture the human condition within ALO’s work. Creating a quiet language that resonates across both the street and the gallery.

Bardo is showing at BSMT Space from 3-12 October 2025. To learn more about ALO take a look at his instagram and his website.

For more Inspiring City articles you will like, take a look at…

• ALO Street Art in London
• Italian artist ALO prepares for ‘Hail to the Loser’
• ALO the Artist with his own brand of Urban Expressionism
• Meet ALO the painter whose portraits took over Saatchi and the Streets
• Eleven the Exhibition by ALO at BSMT Space