Huile sur toile de lin montée sur panneau, 2025
Like many works in the series, Pfeif originates from a dream. Part of the Card Paintings series (2022–25), it was originally conceived as one half of a diptych. First shown in Echo Without Origin at Patel Brown (Toronto, 2025) and later in Entre les cartes at Istituto Italiano di Cultura (Montréal, 2025), it is presented here on its own for the first time.
Italian-born painter Alberto Porro approaches painting as a tool for accessing and navigating both personal and collective dimensions of the subconscious. A central element in his work is the depiction of playing cards, often combined with echoes of Metafisica and Realismo Magico to situate his practice within the lineage of Italian painting. The archetypal imagery of the cards provides a visual vocabulary for translating inner experiences and the oneiric dimension into pictorial form.
Works from the Card Paintings series have been exhibited and sold at Mama Projects (New York) and at New Art Dealers Alliance through Afternoon Projects (Vancouver). They have been shown at Patel Brown (Montréal and Toronto), the Stewart Hall Art Gallery (Pointe-Claire), and the Istituto Italiano di Cultura (Montréal).