Alejandro Giraldo: Exploring work culture through surrealist painting

By Vanessa Lantos Daly (Spicy Melon)

Imagine feeling a corporate job in your skin so strongly that you felt compelled and inspired to create an entire painting thesis about it at SCAD.

I met a very friendly and down-to-earth Alejandro Giraldo at Alexander Hall at SCAD. The university has specialized buildings for different careers, and Alexander Hall houses all the painting majors.

Tired and hazy, with a big smile, he humbly shows me his final exhibition within those walls.

As someone who presented a thesis in Architecture at SCAD many years ago, I can tell you firsthand that the students are walking zombies after that. Fully depleted of sleep and energy. The 10-week system of academic quarters is brutal, depending on what you wish to accomplish… 2.5 months is definitely not enough.

I slowly walk through Alexander Hall and am taken by the pieces: the organized chaos and refined detail behind them. The colors… the hands. The element of hands in a blurry and explosive, sometimes poisonous world. His work is very interesting and impressive. I am stopped by a sculpture of an office chair with monstrous tentacles flowing from where the legs should be.

“The hand represents a character I created,” he tells me softly. Something that represents control in a workplace environment where workers often have little control.

He shares further: “In these works, I develop a recurring figure: a flexible, animated, and at times absurd body that stretches, deforms, and reorganizes itself in its attempt to adjust. These figures function as surfaces where physical, psychological, and symbolic pressures accumulate.”

It’s something I’ll often marvel at … Savannah attracts some very interesting talent and it has become a melting pot of different cultures. Currently, this city has attracted an amazing painter from Colombia.

Alejandro is a painter whose work explores the intersection between realism and abstraction, with a strong focus on imagination, surrealism, and the culture of work.

What is Alejandro’s work experience that inspired all of this? He is not your usual young SCADling, as we affectionately call them. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electronic Engineering (PUJ Bogotá, 2009), Graphic Design (LCI Bogotá, 2012), as well as a Master’s in Visual Arts (UNAL Bogotá, 2022).

“Which one is your favorite?” He smiles at me. It is hard to say, but I’m drawn to one called Upper Management: the headless man with his tie flowing in an almost sinister way… the way he holds his hands, the papers flying everywhere…

**UPPER MANAGEMENT By Alejandro Giraldo. MEDIUM:** oil on canvas. 52 x 51 Inches.

Working primarily with acrylics, oils, charcoal, and oil pastels, Giraldo often integrates elements from his background in electronics and design. At times, he incorporates electronic components directly into the canvas, merging the mechanical with the expressive.

As someone who loves the juxtaposition of natural elements and abstract scenes, I can see Dali-esque qualities in his paintings. Specifically “The Persistence of Memory” comes to mind.

**RUSH HOUR By Alejandro Giraldo. MEDIUM:** oil on canvas. 44 x 51 Inches.

His paintings frequently feature recurring characters inspired by office workers, forming satirical and whimsical narratives that reflect on contemporary life.

“So, what’s next?” I smile at him. I love the paintings. They speak to me… I feel like they would speak to many locals as well.

Unlike many other master’s degree graduates, Alejandro fell smitten with Savannah and decided to stay and share his art with this city and the local community. “This city is beautiful and I’m staying for a bit longer. I’d love to connect with the locals beyond SCAD and share my art with them.”

Upon glancing at his work experience, his interest in Savannah specifically is interesting to me. In Colombia, Alejandro participated in several auctions and exhibited his work in various galleries and museums, including two solo exhibitions at Universidad de los Andes with his project “LABORA” and Universidad Nacional (UNAL). He was the recipient of SCAD’s Educator Scholarship and was honored with the Painting Department Memorial Scholarship in 2024 in recognition of his outstanding performance.

His most recent recognitions include an award from the London International Creative Competition for his painting “Shield of Dreams.” He also received honors in the 2nd China-Colombia National Painting Contest, themed “United in the Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games for a Shared Future.”

It feels like the local art scene layers the Savannah experience in a deep way, and it is constantly growing and evolving as the city grows and attracts more international talent.

Chatting with Alejandro is a delight. He shares, “I would love to share my work with more of this city. I want to experience the feedback on this collection and see what else can evolve from that experience.”

There is an opportunity to meet Alejandro and experience some of his very interesting work at the end of this month at the Cute Tomatoes Gallery.

Feel free to follow Alejandro here for new art pieces and upcoming shows too.

Located at 218 East 41st St., the opening will be on May 28 at 6 p.m. and will run for about a month.

This will be a shared exhibition with two other wonderful artists. I feel like Savannah has gained some amazing talent, and the opportunities to experience it are very unique.

See you at the exhibit! Don’t miss it.

Love always,

Vanessa

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