Carl D'Alvia
INSIDERS
© Carl D'Alvia, photo by Charles Benton.
To say that Carl D’Alvia is a sculptor in the traditional sense is misleading, even though he is. Time-honored techniques and materials like lost-wax bronze casting have been a cornerstone of his practice, both detectable and admired. But his career has consistently subverted the more serious associations that come with those processes, like the purity of line, shape, and form, by creating rebellious figures. D’Alvia is known for employing humor and con- tradiction in his sculptures big or small, which activate any space they inhabit due to the conflicting energies that they give off: some slump and pout, or even smoke, while others look ready to throw shit around. The tension found in their hybrid nature, stuck somewhere between the stoic and the playful, is a continuing hallmark for D’Alvia, who has spent significant time in Italy.
During his 2012 Rome Prize residency, he upset the perfectly manicured lawn of the American Academy with a giant cube bulging from under the grass. He sees each piece he makes as a character—even his more recent works, which have entered the domain of “design.” Familiar forms in his repertoire have gotten bigger, been upholstered and tufted, or been given wooden shin- gles fit for the roof of a house. Are they furniture, or sculptures of furniture? D’Alvia’s response: “I’m trying to make the most figurative minimal sculpture, or the most minimal figurative sculpture. . . . If you buy it I cannot stop you from sitting on it.”
B. 1965, Sleepy Hollow, NY
Lives and works in West Cornwall, CT
dalvia.com
@carldalvia
LC1602
Carl D’Alvia, Trundle, 2021, Mixed media, Courtesy the artist and Hesse Flatow, New York, photo by R & Company.