Adele Gilani American, b. 1983

I lost my mother at a young age, unexpectedly. This shifted me. I’m acutely aware of how tenuous life is and core to my perspective is a deep appreciation for beauty, time, and family.

In life, I marvel over broad strokes and bright colors. I have an overwhelming need to commit the world’s layers, textures, rhythm and movement to canvas. I’m inspired by Yayoi Kusama and the naïveté of Karel Appel’s work. I often attempt to capture the enormity of an abstract concept and I particularly love a canvas that's bigger than I am. I also spend a lot of time playing with serenity and natural landscapes, but occasionally I go rogue and produce a piece completely divergent from my own style. I like to have fun.

In the fall of 2018, 9-months pregnant with my daughter, I painted a 5'6", 400-pound heart to help raise funds for San Francisco General Hospital. Jamila was born 11 days before the sculpture was due! The entire project was a perfect swirl of embracing, sharing, and gifting life, and an apt reflection of how I participate in life and in art.

I believe curation is as important as creation. I’m energized by putting pieces of art in dialogue with one another and the resulting visual conversation. It is my great hope that we come to view art, play, perspective, and gratitude as critical to our existence as water or the air we breathe.

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Exhibitions

2019             Union Square, SF, Public Installation, CA

2017             San Francisco Alzheimer’s Association Art Auction

2016-2017     City Art gallery, San Francisco, CA

2016         Artspan’s Art in Neighborhoods, Mission Bowling, San Francisco, CA

2016             “New Perspectives” Juried Show, San Francisco Women Artists, SF

2016         “ICONS” Juried Show, San Francisco Women Artists, SF

2016         Solo exhibition, Galvanize, San Francisco, CA

2016         Juried Alumni Show, University of Kentucky, KY

2012         “Dia de Los Muertos” Juried Show, Living Arts and Science Center, KY

2008        Solo exhibition, Third Street Stuff & Coffee, KY

2006        “Fresh Liquor,” solo exhibition, Fresh Liquor, KY

Collections

Google, 2019

Bank of America, 2019

University of Kentucky Children’s Hospital, 2009

Works held in private collections around the USA.