Alessandra Bettòlo is a multidisciplinary architect, her passion, interest and skills cross over disciplines to include architecture, product design, visual design, interior design and portrait painting. Trained in Architecture at the Polytechnic of Milan University, Alessandra holds a Diploma in Visual Design from the Scuola Politecnica di Design (SPD) in Milan and an Academic Diploma in Contemporary Portraiture from The Art Academy in London. Originally from Milan, Alessandra has also lived and worked in Johannesburg, New York, Kuala Lumpur, London and now in the Tuscan countryside in the house of her ancestors. She counts herself as a local in each of these places. In her work she uses the experience of her nomadic lifestyle across four continents and the synergy between her life as a woman, mother, wife, architect and painter. Her research uses the transformative power of classic iconography and the power of objects to focus on under-represented people of African descent in order to challenge discrimination and stereotypes, to open a dialogue and claim their place as protagonists in the western history of portraiture. An autobiographical narrative in which Alessandra mixes political discussions with hairstyles, conventional iconography with contemporary design pieces to always re-enact the action of power: the subject of the painting are her kids Thandi and Sandile as protagonists of the history of our time.
As architect and painter, she has exhibited in London, Milan, New York, Kuala Lumpur, New Mexico and Monaco.
Preselected Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award, National Portrait Gallery London with the portrait painting 'Should I stay or should I go?' February 2026;
winner i-D magazine x Ray-Ban’s RED global art competition with the portrait painting'We should all be feminists' December 2025, now @ Art Basel HK; her work is included in II Level Painting Master Degree Thesis, Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera Milan. 2025; solo show "Mamma is a Painter' Rimini, Italy; shortlisted with the portrait painting 'La petite danseuse', RA Royal Academy Summer exhibition, London, 2021; solo show 'Salon' Monaco/Montecarlo 2020; selected&shown, Swiss Original international competition+exhibition with the wall installation 'Come into my garden', Milan 2020; selected, shown and awarded as Highly Commended Artist with the portrait painting 'Le smoking', Ashurst Emerging Artist Prize 2019, London; preselected, Royal Society of Portrait Painters and SWA Society of Women Artists annual exhibition 2019; winner Vitrinebq Gallery International art competition and exhibition ‘Maps&Geographies | Where abouts’ with the piece 'My migrant garden', Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, 2018; winner Opos International Design Competition with Cubista/Sq3 shelving system design, shown at the Fuori Salone and Salone del Mobile, produced by SpHaus, Milan.
Alessandra aspires to make portraits without social boundaries or geographic borders.

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