When it comes to traditional figurative art, Gialanella provides something neither traditional nor affected.  His figures and animals contain substance and space, embodied with perfect dimensions and balanced proportions amid the chaos of steel strips and planes.  He infuses his work with spirit, as if through some aesthetic alchemy, yielding sentient beings filled with solace and expression.  The spatial relationships are always carefully considered and dynamic - containing movement that is rarely seen in representational sculpture. Whether through ribbons of steel or his series of parallel plates, one becomes aware of the artist’s mastery to express ideas free from the paralyzing grip of academic principles and conventional techniques.

 

If Gialanella has apprehended some essence of life in his art, then it is only by regarding his subjects as a mirror of human emotions that we can forgo reality and delve into the spiritual expression that lies within.  Thus the concept of an animal, a camel or horse, that represents strength, beauty, freedom – are not meant to function as mere examples of these creatures, but as a collection of shapes and subconscious symbols that are not part of the tangible world. They are like a projection of dreams, not a contest with reality.  The artist is able to separate hand and brain, tapping into a potent force aimed at redefining objective representation. Ideally, he strives to create austere symbols stripped of convention and artifice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Cooper Union                                                                                     
Donald Gialanella earned a BFA at The Cooper Union in New York City. 
Graduating in 1979 and being awarded the Elliot Lash Prize, Gialanella was then asked by Louise Bourgeois to become her assistant.. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gialanella with Louise Bourgeois at her home in 2006.

 

ABC Television Network
Beginning in 1981, Donald worked as an illustrator for the Blade -Tribune newspaper in Oceanside, California. Two years later he returned to New York and began a decade long Emmy winning career as Graphics Producer for the ABC television network.  He pioneered the use of on-air digital graphics on World News Tonight and later for Nightline, 20/20, Good Morning America and a host of news and sports broadcasts.

 

 

 

 

Living in Turkey                                                                                                                  

In 1992 Gialanella ventured to Turkey to accept a position teaching art at Bilkent University. While abroad, he worked as a freelance production designer for the Turkish Television Network and several private TV channels in Istanbul and Ankara.

     With Peter Jennings on the set 

                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Live Steel Studio
Upon returning to the States, Gialanella opened a professional metalworking facility and began sculpting again.  Employing a variation of the repousse technique used by the Turkish craftsmen, he developed a flexible and interactive process with which to construct steel sculpture. Donald is represented by GVG Contemporary in Santa Fe, NM.

 

 

Public Commissions

The City of Santa Clarita, CA shortlisted Gialanella as one of three finalists in 2010 for the McBean Transit Center public sculpture call. His concept design, "Pointing the Way", can be seen here.

 

In 2009 Gialanella visited Perth, Australia to be honored as a finalist in a $500,000 International Sculpture Competition for his Parallax Cross design.  The competition was organized by St. George’s Cathedral and the City of Perth.

 

Gialanella developed a new idea for dual-image sculpture that explored the phenomenon of the parallax in 2007. What the observer sees changes depending on the angle at which the sculpture is approached. If one faces the sculpture head on, it appears as a series of vertical lines. Approached from the side, it takes on a recognizable dimensional perspective and the subject is revealed.  The technique is ideally suited for urban spaces where movement around the sculpture initiates changes in its perception by the viewer.

 

Gialanella’s Parallax sculpture ideas led to a public commission by the City of Albany that saw three of these monumental pieces placed in the Downtown metro area.

 

 

 

Green Sculpture
Gialanella uses reclaimed objects as the sole building material for his new series of midden (a conglomeration of artifacts) sculpture assemblages. These midden sculptures are the culmination of ideas representing “green” sculpture and recycling awareness.  Fetishistic clusters of toys, tools, utensils, electronic game components, computer hardware and a myriad of mass produced plastic objects are given new life as sculptural animals, a goat, pig, duck, rooster and a human figure. Gialanella's Green sculpture is featured in CTN Magazine and The Landfill Art Project.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Uri Geller & Gialanella                        Howard Stern & Gialanella at KRock        With Dr. Keith Ablow and sculpture Sisyphus                

 

 

Affiliations and Collections                                                                                           
Gialanella has exhibited in sculpture parks, public spaces, museums and galleries. His work is collected throughout the United States and around the world.  Personalities as diverse as Uri Geller, Howard Stern, Angelina Jolie, Jimmy Buffet, TV host Dr. Keith Ablow, and Owner of The Atlantic Monthly David G. Bradley, own Gialanella sculptures. 

 

Gialanella is recognized by the following organizations:                              
Member of the Sculptors Guild NYC, member of LAVA, the Los Angeles Visionaries Association, National Register’s Who’s Who in Executives and Professionals, Biographical Encyclopedia of American Artists, Who’s Who in American Art, Dictionary of International Biography and Strathmore’s Who’s Who.