Alex Gross “Future Tense”
Jonathan Levine Gallery (557C W 23rd St.)
This event has ended.
Jonathan LeVine Gallery presents Future Tense, a series of new oil paintings and mixed media works by Los Angeles-based artist Alex Gross in what is his fourth solo exhibition at the gallery. In conjunction with Future Tense, the artist releases a new monograph published by Gingko Press, which shares its title with the show and features 40 paintings completed between 2010 and 2014.
In Future Tense, Gross portrays mankind as apathetically living in a world overwhelmed by advertising and propaganda. Captivated by technological devices and strategically branded products, his vacant and desensitized subjects appear before industrial factories, in television newsrooms, hyper-urban cityscapes or the bucolic countryside.
Gross’ paintings suggest that, in our culture, it is impossible to escape (even briefly) from corporate influence. In this exhibition, the artist expands upon themes of consumerism, industrialization and the omnipresent media, carefully treading the line between imaginary dreamscape and sociopolitical commentary. His work represents the psychological state of contemporary society and our inability to exist in the present moment.
In addition to new works on canvas, Future Tense also features Gross’ cabinet card paintings, a series of works painted on antique Victorian photographs dating from the 1880s to the early 1900s. Using mixed media, Gross re-imagines the subjects of these portraits as pop culture characters from film, television or comics.
Media
Schedule
from October 09, 2014 to November 08, 2014
Opening Reception on 2014-10-09 from 18:00 to 20:00