Image 1 of 1
Image 1 of 1
Image 1 of 1
Image 1 of 1
As a boy, Dave Buonaguidi spent Saturday afternoons watching British wrestling on the telly. On Monday he’d re-enact it in the playground, always as Jackie Pallo, because Pallo was blond and Italian like him… although Pallo was actually from Islington.
Decades later, Buonaguidi found a stash of original 1970s wrestling photographs on eBay and it all came flooding back. The series borrows its title from Pallo’s own book, You’ll Grunt, I’ll Groan, and pays tribute to an era when two men in very small trunks agreed in advance who would make which noise. Theatrical, nostalgic and, in Buonaguidi’s words, “a little sexy too”.
Part of the Wrestle Room exhibition at Atom Gallery, 10 October – 31 October 2026.
Artist: Dave Buonaguidi
Medium: Gold leaf on found photograph
Dimensions: 31 x 38 cm
Edition: Unique (1 of 1)
As a boy, Dave Buonaguidi spent Saturday afternoons watching British wrestling on the telly. On Monday he’d re-enact it in the playground, always as Jackie Pallo, because Pallo was blond and Italian like him… although Pallo was actually from Islington.
Decades later, Buonaguidi found a stash of original 1970s wrestling photographs on eBay and it all came flooding back. The series borrows its title from Pallo’s own book, You’ll Grunt, I’ll Groan, and pays tribute to an era when two men in very small trunks agreed in advance who would make which noise. Theatrical, nostalgic and, in Buonaguidi’s words, “a little sexy too”.
Part of the Wrestle Room exhibition at Atom Gallery, 10 October – 31 October 2026.
Artist: Dave Buonaguidi
Medium: Gold leaf on found photograph
Dimensions: 31 x 38 cm
Edition: Unique (1 of 1)
