They Won’t Talk About Us

Life and memories are so important, and you have to remember. Nobody wants their own name and existence to fade into oblivion. So we just have to grow and protect all the sensitivity around, ’cause our new phones and technologies won’t talk about us.

Alex Gross is a painter best known for his pop surrealist figurative paintings that examine issues surrounding globalization, consumerism, branding, entropy, and the unstoppable passage of time. Referencing comic books, classic television characters, and other pop imagery, Alex creates a witty blend of advertising, propaganda, and Surrealism. In 2012, his solo exhibition, Product Placement, lampooned the ubiquitous and disturbing presence of product promotions and advertising in everyday life.

“The world that I live in is both spiritually profound and culturally vapid. It is extremely violent but can also be extremely beautiful. Globalization and technology are responsible for wonderfully positive changes in the world as well as terrible tragedy and homogeneity. This dichotomy fascinates me, and naturally influences much of my work.”

Alex collects postcards of people from the past. Sometimes their names are written on the back or bottom of the card, some others they are simply strangers, even if they were lucky enough to hold in the hands of a nostalgic friend, rather than in a dusty storage room. Now their faces are more familiar, and their lives, those of a Super Hero.

“If you’re old like me, you might remember the terrible animated Saturday morning Super Friends cartoon. They weren’t really kids, but for some reason I thought that title worked for this piece. I had this card for awhile before figuring out what to do with it.”

Born in 1968, in New York, Alex lives in Los Angeles, California.

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www.artofalexgross.com