the art of alex gross
There’s a whole lot on the cards for californian painter alex gross.
Hey Alex! Who are you and what do you do? I’m an artist who paints pictures, living in Los Angeles, California.
Have you always been an arty type? I was an enormous fan of comic books as a child, and used to copy images out of them from a very early age. I always imagined that would be my career – being a comic book artist – then at art school I discovered other mediums and techniques. I would pretty much draw all the time if I was at home, though.
When did you first start using found objects as a canvas? I started painting on antique photos – specifically cabinet cards – around eight or nine years ago. I’m not sure where the idea came from exactly, but I’d been collecting cabinet cards for some time. It occurred to me that it might be fun to paint on some of them and see what happened. At first, I had no idea what to do on each card, so I experimented a lot; many of them got destroyed in the process. Eventually, I decided to transform them into pop culture characters. This direction proved very fruitful, and helped me avoid ruining most of them.
Where do you find the cards, and what do you know about their history? I get most of the cards on ebay, though sometimes from flea markets and antique stores, and people send them to me, too. All I know about them is whatever may be written on the back – often it states the people’s names and the year the photo was taken. How do you decide which character a person should be?
Usually I have an idea for a character or group of characters, then seek out a card that works for that. Sometimes it happens in reverse, though. The ‘Batman, Batgirl and Robin (TV show)’ piece is one where I just loved the card and came up with the idea afterwards. For the ‘Darth Vader and Kids’ one, I already had the idea and sought out a card with a father and two children, so I could transform them into Darth Vader, Luke and Leia.
It’s almost like you’re bringing the subjects back to life, in a way! Definitely! I’ve seen stacks of cabinet cards at flea markets, just sitting in the corner. Very few people are interested in old photos anymore. My reimagining of them brings these faces back into the light and hopefully onto someone’s wall. I always try to let most of the faces show through – after all, that’s the point of painting on photos.
Are you still a little bit obsessed with comic books? I’m still obsessed with the comics of my childhood; I don’t really follow many current ones. The comics and toys of my youth have a deep and lasting impact on me, and will always retain a special place in my heart. And now I have a son, I can start sharing those things with him.
Where can we see more of your work? alexgross.com or on Instagram at @artofalexgross.