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.there’s a whole lot on the cards for
californian painter alex gross.
ful of
character
pretty pictures