Alejandro Rizzo Nervo is a Venezuelan-born interdisciplinary artist and performer based in Toronto, Canada. Working across photography, film/video, performance, and installation, Rizzo Nervo explores themes of identity, sexuality, loss, and gender fluidity.
Their practice is rooted in collage and photomontage, using real-life imagery to construct fragmented compositions that merge dreams, nightmares, and lingering thoughts. Driven by a desire to consciously engage with the unconscious, Rizzo Nervo stitches together different media, bringing hidden narratives to the surface and blurring the boundary between reality and the surreal.
Rizzo Nervo’s work has been included in exhibitions at the Art Gallery of Ontario; Nuit Blanche; Ada Slaight Gallery; Propeller Art Gallery; Gladstone Hotel; Xpace Cultural Centre; Artscape Youngplace, in Toronto, and at The Khyber Centre for the Arts, Halifax. Rizzo Nervo was a 2017-2018 artist-in-residence at the Florence Off Campus program from OCAD University. The works produced at the residency were on view in Florence as part of the exhibition Emulsion I, and Emulsion II.
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Education
2020 Graduate Certificate: Project Management with distinction. George Brown College, Toronto, ON.
2019 Bachelor of Fine Arts: Photography. OCAD University, Toronto, ON.
Work Experience
2022 to Present, Kent Monkman Studio - Editions & Archive Specialist
2020 to Present, The Kalaman Group - Cataloguing Specialist
Artist Residencies
2017-18 Florence off Campus Residency in Florence, Italy. OCAD University.
Select Group Exhibitions
2022 Desire(d) Paths - Colectivo Satelital
Lakeshore Arts. Toronto, Canada.
2021 Desire(d) Paths - Colectivo Satelital
Lakeshore Arts. Toronto, Canada.
2020 Memorial: Work by Artists of the Venezuelan Diaspora.
Xpace Cultural Centre. Toronto, Canada.
2020 Memorial: Work by Venezuelan Diaspora Artists.
The Khyber Centre for the Arts. Halifax, Canada.
2019 Nuit Blanche - The Artists Protest Resistance (Independent Project)
Gladstone Hotel. Toronto, Canada.
2019 Reality Vanishing in Plain Sight. Propeller Art Gallery. Toronto, Canada.
2019 Career Launcher Photography Exhibition.
Artscape Youngplace. Toronto, Canada
2019 Nuit Rose, Arcade. Artscape Youngplace. Toronto, Canada.
2019 CONTACT - A Thousand Words. Ada Slaight Gallery. Toronto, Canada.
2019 CONTACT - Beyond Borders. OCAD University, Great Hall. Toronto, Canada.
2019 GradEx 104. OCAD University. Toronto, Canada.
2018 Frutti. OCAD University. Toronto, Canada
2018 Emulsion II. Firenze, Italia.
2017 Emulsion I. Firenze, Italia.
2017 Mayday. Toronto, Canada.
2016 52 Cardshow. OCAD University. Toronto, Canada.
Publications
2019 The Chandaria Collection of Contemporary Arts from India
2019 A Thousand Words
Talks
2020 Glimpsing the Future Vol 2. TOAF & The Power Plant.
2020 Memorial: “Work by Venezuelan Diaspora Artists” moderated by Camila
Salcedo. The Khyber Centre for The Arts, Halifax, NS.
2019 The Chandaria Collection of Contemporary Arts of India. Introductory speech.
OCAD University, Toronto, ON
Press
2020 The Coast, Halifax. “Halifax sees the Venezuela diaspora remember what it has lost with new Khyber show.”
2019 The Artist & The Viewer. “Rendering Difference in the Artscape Youngplace Career Launcher Photography Exhibition.”
Awards
2020 RBC Emerging Artist Network. Awarded by The Power Plant.
2020 OCAD University Artist Showcase. Partial Gallery
2019 The Epson Award. Andrew Patrick
2019 Project 31. Photography Award
2019 BMO 1st Art! (Nomination)
Grants
2023 ArtReach Grant. Toronto Arts Council.
2022 Exhibition Assistance Grant. Ontario Arts Council. Colectivo Satelital.
2022 ArtReach Grant. Toronto Arts Council. Colectivo Satelital.
2021 EQ Bank Arts Partnership. Colectivo Satelital.
2021 ArtReach Grant. Toronto Arts Council. Colectivo Satelital.
2020 Exhibition Assistance Grant. Ontario Arts Council.