Pop Surrealist artist Alex Gross specializes in oil paintings on canvas whose themes include global commerce, the pursuit of beauty, alienation, and how globalization and capitalism have consumed our visual culture. His work features striking, dreamlike Victorian imagery, a haunting postmodern potpourri of fairytale, allegory, history, and pop culture that treads the line of striking realism and nonsensical whimsy.
In 2000, Gross received a fellowship from the Japan Foundation, spending two months traveling throughout Japan, researching and collecting a wide variety of Japanese fine and commercial art, which explains the very strong Asian imagery and references in most of his work.
While most definitely a surrealist, Gross and his work strongly embraces elements of the Lowbrow movement of pop surrealism that came out of Los Angeles in the mid-1970s. This populist movement has its roots in punk music, underground comics and the hot rod culture and is known for its sense of humor and its sarcastic, often biting commentary of the modern world.
Born in Roslyn, New York in 1968, currently living and working in Los Angeles, his work can be seen in art journals, magazine adverts and book covers and he has been featured in galleries around the world.
Check out the gallery after jump, or visit his website to see much more of the interesting art postmodern, lowbrow, pop surrealism of Alex Gross.
I can’t say I like all of those works, but some struck a chord. I was tickled by the Putin lookalike gazing down on the scene in ‘Android’ and I wonder if four legs would have helped my tennis.
Yes, I think “lowbrow” is the term of reason here, and yet it’s definitely art, so it sounds funny to call it lowbrow. What I like the most is the way a lot of the female figures seem like Alices-in-Wonderland, in a way.
I love this quirky kind of art that makes one laugh with its easy familiarity; so successful in its mix of pop culture imagery blending with iconic museum piece references!
I like “Julia”, perhaps because of my Granddaughter’s flowing red hair. Thanks for introducing us to this artist.
I think that lowbrow movement made it more fun 😀
Wow! I really like his work. And he grew up not far from where I did. 🙂 The mix of surrealism and low brow is fascinating. It’s like Dali’s work set in today’s world. Thanks for introducing his work to us!
Is this a case of Gross by name, gross by nature?
Wow, very unique. Like his work a lot.