Adele Gilani American, b. 1983

Adele Gilani was born and raised in Frankfort, KY.  Adele attended art school at the University of Kentucky in an old tobacco warehouse where tobacco still hung from the ceiling.  Her early work dealt with the inner child.  Adele's mother was taken from her at age 11 so Adele spent years working out her troublesome past preferring to create small emotional works in charcoal and large acrylic pieces with cartoonish imagery exploring the dichotomy of childlike innocence and a dark world.

Adele moved around for several years after college until she finally put roots down in San Francisco.  The San Francisco art scene was not moving in the same direction as Adele's work so she quietly continued to paint cartoonish monsters until a loser boyfriend convinced her she was not a good artist or even an artist at all.  She spent the next two years making art in sketchbooks and learning graphic design.

When Adele finally approached the canvas again a few years later, it was when new love entered her life.  Adele's dad had said to her, no more dating losers!  You will know when you've found the one when he gives you flowers.  

Just after Thanksgiving, 2014 Hussain Gilani came to Adele's door with flowers.  She felt such a strong urge to paint them before they died.  This would be Adele's first painting of her mature style and Hussain would go on to become her husband.  

Adele finds her voice in natural elements now.  She trusts nature to guide her art and her life.  Prefering large canvases and bright colors, you can still see glimpses of Adele's early work but there is a serenity and hopefulness in her painting now that makes her work truly exceptional.  

Adele lives with her husband, her baby Jamila and dog Pancho in Oakland, CA.  

Exhibitions

2019             Union Square, SF, Public Installation, CA

2017             San Francisco Alzheimer’s Association Art Auction

2016-2017     City Art gallery, San Francisco, CA

2016         Artspan’s Art in Neighborhoods, Mission Bowling, San Francisco, CA

2016             “New Perspectives” Juried Show, San Francisco Women Artists, SF

2016         “ICONS” Juried Show, San Francisco Women Artists, SF

2016         Solo exhibition, Galvanize, San Francisco, CA

2016         Juried Alumni Show, University of Kentucky, KY

2012         “Dia de Los Muertos” Juried Show, Living Arts and Science Center, KY

2008        Solo exhibition, Third Street Stuff & Coffee, KY

2006        “Fresh Liquor,” solo exhibition, Fresh Liquor, KY

Collections

Google, 2019

Bank of America, 2019

University of Kentucky Children’s Hospital, 2009

Works held in private collections around the USA.