Alex
Carroll

Alex Carroll is an internationally recognized visual artist who has spent the majority of his career traveling and working overseas. The experience of living in multiple places has shaped his thoughts on physical movement and how it is directly related to our perception of time and the understanding of ourselves and the present.

Originally from St. Louis, Missouri (USA), Alex has called numerous cities his home including Bangkok, Chicago, Melbourne, and Shanghai. He received his Master of Fine Arts degree from RMIT University (Australia) where he began developing the conceptual base for his recent work that focuses on the relationship amid body, movement and duration. His work utilizes intentionally blurred photographs of faces and figures as a starting point for distortion and visualizing movement. These digital images, both fluid and wraith-like in appearance, are reinterpreted through a process of marking and erasing and drawing and redrawing. The resulting compositions aim to bring attention to our natural, collective state—the state of being in constant motion. His large-scale drawings earned him significant praise and, after receiving a top graduate award recognizing his efforts, he was invited to continue his research as an artist in residence at RMIT’s printmaking department.

In 2007, Alex moved from Australia to China where he was able to witness an environment of continous change in the rapidly growing city of Shanghai. The city's fluctuation between construction and deconstruction, and  its’ inhabitants moving en masse, further influenced his work.  He has exhibited extensively in Shanghai’s galleries including exhibitions at the M50 art district, Shanghai Hongqiao Contemporary Art Museum, and Tong Ji University. His solo show show at Noeli Gallery in Shanghai’s Former French Concession was praised as one of the top exhibitions to see by That’s Shanghai and CNCreate during its run. He has been published in a variety of local media including a recent feature of his work in Shanghai’s lifestyle magazine, Chic. He also completed a successful six month residency at the Swatch Art Peace Hotel located along Shanghai’s historic Bund.

In August of 2017, Alex returned to the U.S. with his family. He set up his studio in San Francisco’s East Bay Area where he continues his artistic practice while mentoring young, emerging artists.