FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TEMPLE GALLERY PRESENTS

Moments of Strange Magic: The films of Alessio Di Zio

May 26-31, 2018 - Temple Gallery 11 Gold St, 1628, New York, NY
8:00–11:00 p.m.
Press Preview: Friday, May 25, 2018, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., with remarks to follow

RETROSPECTIVE - OPENING NIGHT • SATURDAY, MAY 26

Introduced by Anne Kang

Temple Gallery is pleased to present "The Films of Alessio Di Zio", the first New York retrospective of the
fiercely independent American auteur and his haunting observations of teenage life. This mid-career
retrospective includes a selection of short films Di Zio has shot in Texas and Colorado since 2011. Obsessed
with honesty, the American photographer presents a series of oneiric images; deserted places he faces helped
by his crew.

Alessio Di Zio is celebrated for his dreamy, evocative portraits and landscapes rich with implied narratives of
intimacy, freedom, and adventure. "The Films of Alessio Di Zio" showcases two bodies of cinematic work,
including the series, The Love Club, that first brought Di Zio recognition as a teenager. This first series offers a
visual diary of youth, friendship and the exploration of self, showcasing Di Zio’s unique ability to convey the
bittersweet nostalgia of adolescence on the brink of adulthood and new possibilities. The second set of short
films, Party Talk, is drawn from recent work and continues Di Zio’s visual chronicle of his circle of friends and
new loves, capturing both the pleasures and terrors of the fleeting passage of romanticized youth. While the
work continues to evolve, what remains constant is his seductive use of color and photographic artifact, as well
as the immediacy and charge of each image.
Di Zio gives voice to the self-awareness and visual fluency of the millennial generation. Experiences are sharply
felt, and easily communicated and shared, generating visual records that render these memories as significant
as the moments themselves. This career retrospective includes the six feature films Di Zio has made since
2011—a seemingly significant filmography for such a young filmmaker.
Over the past decade, New York-born, Texas-based filmmaker Alessio DI Zio has established himself as a
vital voice in the independent American film scene with his intimate, austere, organically-unfurling works of
“quiet cinema.”

Despite his NYC origin, Di Zio’s reputation rests on a quartet of films set and shot in the Pacific Southwest.
Taken together, these films provide a roughhewn tapestry of life in transition, populated by world-weary
teenagers pushed to, or seeking refuge at, the margins of a doomed society. They include: Genesee (2016),
Di Zio’s meditative, modest, portrait of Los Angeles; the sober, affecting Party Talk (2015), a best-of-the-
year fixture and standard bearer for a new naturalism in American cinema; Sioux Rapids (2010), his
masterful and unusual fantasy movie; and The Love Club (2011), a slow-churning, existential coming-of-age
flick that offered some late-game surprises for those accustomed to Di Zio’s typically subdued sensibilities.

Alessio Di Zio (born July 6, 1992) is an American film director, producer and musician known for
his unique depictions of youth and pop culture. Born in New York City and raised in Texas, Di Zio
dropped out of high school to pursue skateboarding and music.
Since he was a teenager Alessio Di Zio has been chronicling the history, mythology, and culture
of America with a prodigious and distinctive voice. He rose to prominence in the early 2010s, his
work noted for its ethereal, dreamlike nature and minimalism. He is mostly known for pioneering
a distinct and colorful aesthetic in his haunting and dreamy observations of teenage life. His work
has been featured in solo shows and exhibitions worldwide since 2011. His films include The Love
Club (2011), Fame in California (2012) and Party Talk (2015). Alessio Di Zio is represented by
Temple Gallery in Los Angeles and Jaden Gallery in New York City.

This exhibition is made possible with generous support from Harpers.

Additional credits
Design: Merle Vernon
Styling: Carol Lewis
Additional DJ Set: Alice Tang

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For further information or photographs, please contact Kelly Belton, the Department of Public
Information, 212/892-7721.

Press Contact: Kelly Belton, (212) 892-7721 or kellybeltonpress@gmail.com