Chicago-born and raised, Fontaine Scarelli is a contemporary abstract expressionist painter whose work explores tension, time, and psychological space through large-scale, immersive compositions. A former fashion design student, Scarelli transitioned into painting with a distinct visual language rooted in instinct, restraint, and emotional intensity.
Scarelli’s canvases invite viewers into environments where memory, perception, and existential uncertainty intersect. Drawing influence from post-apocalyptic cinema, The Twilight Zone, and his solitary upbringing, his work reflects a deep fascination with the fragile boundary between reality and illusion. Each painting evolves through layered construction, revealing both vulnerability and control.
In 2025, Scarelli debuted his first international solo exhibition, 11:11 On Another Planet, in Hong Kong, marking a significant expansion of his global presence. His work has been featured in exhibitions across the United States, including Fractured Continuum in Chicago and What Dreams May Come at Gallery 1871. His large-scale painting The Idea of Time was acquired by global design firm Perkins&Will and is permanently installed in their Chicago studio. His work has also been exhibited at Luminaire in the Hollywood Design District and previously at Saks Fifth Avenue, Chicago.
Scarelli’s work and practice have been featured on WGN-TV’s Spotlight Chicago, in Visual Art Journal, and in Milk X Magazine Hong Kong in conjunction with his international solo exhibition.
Working from his Chicago studio, Scarelli continues to develop new bodies of work while expanding his presence through exhibitions, commissions, and international projects.
Fontaine Scarelli
Born 1987, Chicago, Illinois
Lives and works in Chicago, Illinois
EDUCATION
2008–2011
Bachelor of Arts in Fashion Design
The Illinois Institute of Art, Chicago, Illinois
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025
11:11 On Another Planet
Gaia Art Gallery, Hong Kong
2024
Fractured Continuum
737 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Illinois
2023
Temporal Nexus
Poliform, River North Design District Fall Gallery Walk, Chicago, Illinois
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025
What Dreams May Come
Gallery 1871, Chicago, Illinois
2024
Art Basel Miami Beach, presented by Luminaire
Miami, Florida
2024
River North Design District Fall Gallery Walk
Poliform, Chicago, Illinois
2024
Open Studio Day 7
Greenleaf Art Center, Chicago, Illinois
2024
Open Studio Day 6
Greenleaf Art Center, Chicago, Illinois
2024
Open Studio Day 5
Greenleaf Art Center, Chicago, Illinois
2023
Mindscapes
HAZ Cooperative Studios, Chicago, Illinois
2023
Open Studio Day 4
Greenleaf Art Center, Chicago, Illinois
2023
Open Studio Day 3
Greenleaf Art Center, Chicago, Illinois
2023
Open Studio Day 2
Greenleaf Art Center, Chicago, Illinois
2022
Open Studio Day 1
Greenleaf Art Center, Chicago, Illinois
ART FAIRS
2023
Glencoe Festival of Art, Chicago, Illinois
2023
Gold Coast Art Fair, Chicago, Illinois
2023
One of a Kind Show, Chicago, Illinois
GALLERY REPRESENTATION
Gallery 1871
Chicago, Illinois
Moberg Gallery
Chicago, Illinois and Des Moines, Iowa
Morrison Gallery
Kent, Connecticut
Virgil Catherine Gallery
Hinsdale, Illinois
Loisir Art Gallery
West Hollywood, California
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Perkins&Will
Chicago, Illinois
Saks Fifth Avenue Collection
Chicago, Illinois
Luminaire
Hollywood Design District, California
Amy Kartheiser Design Studio
Chicago, Illinois
Private and Corporate Collections
United States and International
PRESS AND PUBLICATIONS
2026
WGN-TV, Spotlight Chicago
Featured Guest Artist, Live Broadcast Interview and Demonstration
Chicago, Illinois
2025
Milk X Magazine
Feature on Fontaine Scarelli’s Solo Exhibition
Hong Kong
2025
Visual Art Journal
Artist Interview Feature
2024
L’Officiel St. Barth
“The Best of Art Basel Miami Beach Week”
2024
Amy Kartheiser Design Studio
Meet the Maker Series Feature
MEMBERSHIPS
Art Institute of Chicago
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
STUDIO
Scarelli Fine Arts
Greenleaf Art Center
1806 W. Greenleaf Ave., Loft 2
Chicago, Illinois 60626
www.scarellifinearts.com
fontaine@scarellifinearts.com
(773) 704-4891
FONTAINE SCARELLI
Artist Statement
My paintings emerge from a lifelong fascination with the unknown. Growing up as an only child, I spent much of my time alone, constructing internal worlds shaped by the psychological tension and existential ambiguity of The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits. That early solitude continues to inform my work, not as nostalgia, but as a foundation for exploring uncertainty, perception, and emotional endurance.
I work through themes of time, memory, and survival, allowing moments of control and disruption to coexist on the surface. My process is physical and layered, building and resisting the image simultaneously, until something honest reveals itself. I am not interested in illustrating an idea, but in creating an environment where tension can exist without resolution.
For me, painting is not decoration. It is survival. It is a space where instability becomes structure, and where the invisible weight of lived experience can take form.