Artist Alex Gross art is some of the most unique we’ve seen. It’s a perfect blend of pop culture, pure imagination, and realism. As he says it’s hard to describe but he has a definite style and it’s absolutely beautiful. We interviewed Alex about his art and how he broke the internet…
How would you describe your art to our readers?
I’m not big on describing myself. it’s so easy these days to just look at images. I’m a painter, which is a simple explanation that I tend to give. some of my work deals with pop culture. alexgross.com is the other answer I give
Your “Mix Media” collection is amazing, taking antique photos and giving them an “upgrade”. How did that come about?
I started collecting old photos, and specifically cabinet card photos, a long time ago. I’m not sure how, but the idea occurred to me at some point to try painting on some of them, because I had so many. At first, I played around with collage and other experimental stuff on them. many ended up in the trash bin. then, I stumbled upon the idea of making them into characters from pop culture. this gave me direction, and also resulted in far fewer disasters. half of the challenge these days is finding the right card for the right character(s). for example, I wanted to do a Darth Vader with young Luke and Leia as kids. I found just one card on eBay that was right for it, a father with his two young children. when that happens, it almost feels destined to happen somehow.
You have a lot of superheroes and Star Wars in your collection, is there one fandom you prefer creating over the other?
comic books and superheroes were always my first love as a kid. it’s how I learned to draw. copying the drawings in marvel comics, and I even had a book called “How to draw comics the marvel way.” but when star wars came along, I was also immediately on board. I got all the toys and loved it as well. by the time ‘return of the Jedi’ came out, I was over it. but now, I have enjoyed many of the sequels, especially “Rogue One,” which I think is the third-best star wars film. so, it’s hard to say that I prefer one over the other, but if pressed, superheroes probably would win out.
Other than the geeky stuff, where else do you draw inspiration from?
I love to paint other stuff too. the geeky pop culture artwork is just a part of my overall body of work. I love to work with models, photographing them, and creating paintings based on more psychological and surreal scenarios. this gives me more control because when I paint pop culture characters, I am very dependant on finding existing imagery of those characters. but when I paint a model I have shot, I have already taken hundreds of photos and can decide how I want her to be lit, the setting, etc.
“Compulsion” has a somewhat hidden Spock… what reaction do you usually get from that?
“Compulsion” has Spock, and “Diversions” has Batman, in the same way. Both of them have completely broken the internet, so to speak. Comments on both pieces on social media have skewed heavily towards those points. Some folks seem to get the joke. But it’s amazing how many people don’t seem to understand the humor involved. or they just think I’m stupid. I already have another piece in this series planned for spring, and I’ve got a good idea about who the “Spock” of that piece will be as well.
What came first for you the geeky stuff or the art?
as I said above, it was all about comics for me as a kid. this was long before marvel movies were mainstream. I was, and still am at heart, a comic nerd.
When did you realize that you could make your talent into a career? Was there a specific time that made you realize it?
I was always pretty good at art in school, but it was not clear to me what I would do with it. I planned to draw comic books for a long time actually. then, with some nudging from my parents, I went to a regular university for a year. this was the university of Virginia, a huge school (founded by Thomas Jefferson btw). within a few months, I had a regular comic strip appearing in their daily newspaper, and it was clear that art should be where I put my attention. so, after a year there, I applied to art school and came to California to go to the Art Center College of Design. although going to UVA was sort of a lost year for me, I think being in a bigger pond, so to speak, and seeing that even as a freshman, I was regarded as a good artist there, helped solidify my feelings about doing art. of course, once I got to the art center, it was a whole other story. I was not even close to the top talent there, and I learned that it was all about hard work.
Any advice for young artists out there?
See the last sentence above. It’s all about working hard. I don’t think you’ll find many successful artists, or any other creatives, who haven’t worked very hard to get where they are. once you’re in the world, there are plenty of people with natural talent. that only gets you so far. you have to put in the time. also, try to marry someone rich!
What’s the strangest commission request you’ve had and did you do it?
I tell people with commissions that I like to create most of the image on my own, but if they have someone they want to be included in the work, I can try to accommodate that. I had a request to put Vladimir Putin in a painting, which was fun. I included him in another painting after that too, not for the client.
Where can our readers find you next?
I will do some new cabinet card paintings for the LA Art Show. I have two huge cards that are group shots, very ambitious images, that I am transforming. they will be exhibited with Arcadia Contemporary Gallery at the LA Art Show in January 2019. That’s http://www.
