Mickey Aloisio
2023 Aim Fellow
Biography
Mickey Aloisio is an artist and educator based in Brooklyn, NY. Aloisio received his AAS from Suffolk County Community College, BFA from the Fashion Institute of Technology, and MFA from the School of Art at Yale University. He is a recipient of the Eliza Prize, awarded by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Pride Photo Award Open Category First Prize in Amsterdam; and Alice Kimball English Traveling Fellowship and Critical Practice Research Grant, both awarded by the Yale School of Art, and Aloisio is a recent Café Royal Cultural Foundation visual arts grantee. Aloisio was a 2021-22 Core Fellow at MFA Houston. Aloisio recently had his first solo exhibition at Marlborough Gallery in New York in January 2024. Aloisio was a 2023 AIM Fellow at The Bronx Museum.
Artist Statement
Mickey Aloisio’s work was exhibited at The Bronx Museum in Part Two of Bronx Calling: The Sixth AIM Biennial, on view from April 12 – June 16, 2024. Along with the rest of the 2023 AIM Cohort, he also helped to collectively produce The First AIM Convening: A Day of Professional Development for Artists at The Bronx Museum on May 11, 2024.
E is for Empty Yourself, 2023–2024
Digital silver gelatin print, silver gelatin prints, cigar boxes, resin, woodstain
48 x 70 inches
Courtesy of the artist
E is for Empty Yourself is a large-scale photographic installation focusing on my father, our relationship, and his journey through drug addiction and substance abuse recovery in the aftermath of a career as a police officer.
My dad, Paul, worked the night shift as an NYPD officer in The Bronx during the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. Last year, he moved into a new apartment in Queens; the first time he’s lived alone in over 15 years. This project focuses on this new chapter of his life.
I position my father’s struggles as yet another, albeit more personal, failure of the criminal justice system. This project title comes from the titular photograph in the series, referencing a quote that my dad had circled in one of his books, depicting the space behind his bed which has been chipped through to expose the metal stud framing from one year’s worth of tossing and turning through the night. Within this work, I am trying to bring considerations of class, education, and workplace conditions into larger discussions around state violence, the future of the American worker, and the institution of policing.
This project was made possible with generous support from the Cafe Royal Cultural Foundation NYC.
