Fernando Luis Alvarez is a Colombian-American art gallerist and artist based in

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, outside of New York City. It is the sixth-most populous city in New England. Stamford is also the largest city in the Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut, Weste ...

. He is the founder of his eponymous art gallery, Alvarez Gallery.

Biography

Early life

Alvarez was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, but raised by his grandmother Clementina in Colombia. He returned to the States at age 12. He attended elementary to high school in

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

. He then attended Richmond, The American International University in London, where he studied international business, finance, political science, and economics. In 1999, he built an ad agency called APe-Shop that outsourced creative execution to Latin America. Alvarez sold the company in 2005, traveled for a while, worked as a senior business analyst, and began a career in the art world.

Gallery

In December 2009, Alvarez opened a gallery in Stamford, CT. He completed an entire relocation to the newly named Fernando Luis Alvarez Gallery by June 2010, ultimately closing his Greenwich studio. In 2017, Alvarez Gallery was only North American Gallery to ever represent Italian sculptor

Arturo Di Modica Arturo Di Modica (January 26, 1941February 19, 2021) was an Italian sculptor, widely known for his ''Charging Bull'' sculpture. English sculptor Henry Moore nicknamed Di Modica “the young Michelangelo” after they met in Italy in the 1960s. ...

(1941–2021), creator of the

Charging Bull ''Charging Bull'' (sometimes referred to as the ''Bull of Wall Street'' or the ''Bowling Green Bull'') is a bronze sculpture that stands on Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway just north of Bowling Green (New York City), Bowling Green in the Financ ...

Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...

. In December 2018, Alvarez announced that his gallery would be closed beginning January 2019. In 2022, he created a shed housing an art exhibit in Cannondale Village.

Spoon Movement

In June 2018, Fernando Luis Alvarez executed guerrilla installations with Domenic Esposito in protest of the opioid epidemic. This became ''The Spoon Movement,'' whose mission was to hold accountable the architects of the opioid epidemic in particular

Purdue Pharma Purdue Pharma L.P., formerly the Purdue Frederick Company (1892–2019), was an American privately held pharmaceutical company founded by John Purdue Gray. It was sold to Arthur Sackler, Arthur, Mortimer Sackler, Mortimer, and Raymond Sackler in 1 ...

. They temporarily installed a 10-foot long, 800-pound steel spoon representing a "heroin spoon". It was deposited in front of the headquarters of

for their role in the opioid endemic in the United States. Alvarez was charged with "a criminal misdemeanor and a felony" for the installation of the spoon sculpture and was arrested. The sculpture was confiscated but later returned to Esposito. Alvarez was allowed to participate in an accelerated rehabilitation program, and was cleared of the charges because he stayed away from Purdue Pharma for one year.Schott, Paul (2019): "Purdue Pharma removes at HQ", ''The Norwalk Hour'', https://www.pressreader.com/usa/the-norwalk-hour/20190514/281668256423897, Retrieved March 19, 2023.

References

External links

Fernando Luis Alvarez Gallery

Clementina Arts Foundation

The Spoon Movement

The Curtain Movement
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarez, Fernando Living people Directors of museums in the United States American art dealers American art patrons American art collectors American activists Culture jamming Year of birth missing (living people)