Vincent Gallo
- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Vincent Gallo. American-born, Buffalo, New York, 1961. Left home, moved
to New York City in 1978, and began playing in the experimental musical
group, Gray, with artist
Jean Michel Basquiat. After leaving
Gray, he formed the band, Bohack, and recorded the highly regarded
avant-garde industrial noise album, "It Took Several Wives".
During the same period, Gallo also became known in New York City for
his very unusual street performances, which were spontaneously executed
in public and also witnessed by invited guests in the know. The
One-Armed Man, The Man with No Face, Sandman, Boy Hit by a Car, and Boy
Cries in Restaurant Window, to name a few. These radical public
performances were upsetting and disturbing and were meant to provoke
thought, self-reflection and consciousness. Gallo's invited guests
could witness his performance's impact in this larger public context.
One invited guest, New York Underground filmmaker,
Eric Mitchell, cast Gallo as the
lead in his film,
The Way It Is (1985), alongside
newcomer Steve Buscemi.
The Way It Is (1985) was Gallo's
first appearance in a feature-length film, though previously he had
directed himself in several short films, including
If You Feel Froggy, Jump (1980),
The Gunlover (1986) and Rocky 10, as
well as the collaborations with filmmaker
Michael Holman, Vincent Gallo as
"Jesus Christ" (used in
Julian Schnabel's
Basquiat (1996)) and Vampire LeStat.
Since his early performance art days, Gallo has continued to create
very conceptual performance pieces. Examples are a series of protesting
of protests. Gallo has also created his own website, which upon closer
examination, is actually a highly conceptual artwork resonating with
his early performance work.
On his website www.vincentgallo.com in the merchandise section, Gallo
is selling his sperm and sexual fantasies as conceptual works. Gallo's
Internet art questions celebrity, procreation, ego, social agenda, and
views of religion, race and sexuality. These public offerings are
motivated by extreme sensitivity, concept and thoughtfulness, however
their presentation appears crude and offensive. Misinterpretation of
this work is common and Gallo is often incorrectly categorized as a
racist, sexist, homophobe. Gallo has had over 25 one-man shows of his
paintings, including several with famed New York art dealer, Annina
Nosei, and 4 museum shows including one at the Hara Museum in Tokyo,
Japan.
Gallo has also released several musical albums including 2 on the
prestigious Warp Records label-When and Recordings of Music for Film.
Gallo wrote, composed and performed the original music for the films
Buffalo '66 (1998), The Agent (1990)
and
Promises Written in Water (2010).
In the 1980s, Gallo reached the professional level of Grand Prix
motorcycle racing, though he did not win a national championship. Gallo
is one of the actual motorcycle riders in his feature film,
The Brown Bunny (2003).
For many years, Gallo has been known and highly respected in hi-fi and
music recording circles and is considered by many professionals in the
field as having world-class knowledge and experience. He has been
published many times by specialty magazines focused on high fidelity
designs and equipment as well as music recording techniques and
equipment. His collection of vintage hi-fi and recording gear, as well
as musical instruments, is amongst the largest and most refined in the
world. Gallo is also a fanatic record collector, owning over 35,000
vinyl LP's.
Gallo has no agent, manager, assistant or intern and he makes his films
without producers, and with extremely scaled down crews. He has
self-distributed his movies and is directly involved in his films'
sales for distribution. Gallo has also created all of his films'
trailers and posters.
Gallo is one of the most misunderstood, misquoted, misrepresented
talents in the past 25 years and a brief review of his IMDb page
suggests he has also been incredibly prolific.
to New York City in 1978, and began playing in the experimental musical
group, Gray, with artist
Jean Michel Basquiat. After leaving
Gray, he formed the band, Bohack, and recorded the highly regarded
avant-garde industrial noise album, "It Took Several Wives".
During the same period, Gallo also became known in New York City for
his very unusual street performances, which were spontaneously executed
in public and also witnessed by invited guests in the know. The
One-Armed Man, The Man with No Face, Sandman, Boy Hit by a Car, and Boy
Cries in Restaurant Window, to name a few. These radical public
performances were upsetting and disturbing and were meant to provoke
thought, self-reflection and consciousness. Gallo's invited guests
could witness his performance's impact in this larger public context.
One invited guest, New York Underground filmmaker,
Eric Mitchell, cast Gallo as the
lead in his film,
The Way It Is (1985), alongside
newcomer Steve Buscemi.
The Way It Is (1985) was Gallo's
first appearance in a feature-length film, though previously he had
directed himself in several short films, including
If You Feel Froggy, Jump (1980),
The Gunlover (1986) and Rocky 10, as
well as the collaborations with filmmaker
Michael Holman, Vincent Gallo as
"Jesus Christ" (used in
Julian Schnabel's
Basquiat (1996)) and Vampire LeStat.
Since his early performance art days, Gallo has continued to create
very conceptual performance pieces. Examples are a series of protesting
of protests. Gallo has also created his own website, which upon closer
examination, is actually a highly conceptual artwork resonating with
his early performance work.
On his website www.vincentgallo.com in the merchandise section, Gallo
is selling his sperm and sexual fantasies as conceptual works. Gallo's
Internet art questions celebrity, procreation, ego, social agenda, and
views of religion, race and sexuality. These public offerings are
motivated by extreme sensitivity, concept and thoughtfulness, however
their presentation appears crude and offensive. Misinterpretation of
this work is common and Gallo is often incorrectly categorized as a
racist, sexist, homophobe. Gallo has had over 25 one-man shows of his
paintings, including several with famed New York art dealer, Annina
Nosei, and 4 museum shows including one at the Hara Museum in Tokyo,
Japan.
Gallo has also released several musical albums including 2 on the
prestigious Warp Records label-When and Recordings of Music for Film.
Gallo wrote, composed and performed the original music for the films
Buffalo '66 (1998), The Agent (1990)
and
Promises Written in Water (2010).
In the 1980s, Gallo reached the professional level of Grand Prix
motorcycle racing, though he did not win a national championship. Gallo
is one of the actual motorcycle riders in his feature film,
The Brown Bunny (2003).
For many years, Gallo has been known and highly respected in hi-fi and
music recording circles and is considered by many professionals in the
field as having world-class knowledge and experience. He has been
published many times by specialty magazines focused on high fidelity
designs and equipment as well as music recording techniques and
equipment. His collection of vintage hi-fi and recording gear, as well
as musical instruments, is amongst the largest and most refined in the
world. Gallo is also a fanatic record collector, owning over 35,000
vinyl LP's.
Gallo has no agent, manager, assistant or intern and he makes his films
without producers, and with extremely scaled down crews. He has
self-distributed his movies and is directly involved in his films'
sales for distribution. Gallo has also created all of his films'
trailers and posters.
Gallo is one of the most misunderstood, misquoted, misrepresented
talents in the past 25 years and a brief review of his IMDb page
suggests he has also been incredibly prolific.