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Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Self-Portrait, 2013 Sunset Strip billboard, Los Angeles© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Self-Portrait, 2013

Sunset Strip billboard, Los Angeles
© Alex Israel

Installation view, Alex Israel, Peres Projects, Berlin, 2011 Artwork © Alex Israel

Installation view, Alex Israel, Peres Projects, Berlin, 2011

Artwork © Alex Israel

Alex Israel, As It Lays, 2012 Mixed media, including flats, stage, Sky Backdrop painting, and sign, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los AngelesInstallation view, Le Consortium, Dijon, France, 2013© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, As It Lays, 2012

Mixed media, including flats, stage, Sky Backdrop painting, and sign, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Installation view, Le Consortium, Dijon, France, 2013
© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Easter Island Venice Beach, 2012 Rented cinema props, overall dimensions variableInstallation view, Venice Beach Biennial, presented by the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Easter Island Venice Beach, 2012

Rented cinema props, overall dimensions variable
Installation view, Venice Beach Biennial, presented by the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles
© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, The Bigg Chill, 2012–13 Marble and Styrofoam cup, 5 × 3 ½ × 3 ½ inches (12.7 × 8.9 × 8.9 cm), edition of 20© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, The Bigg Chill, 2012–13

Marble and Styrofoam cup, 5 × 3 ½ × 3 ½ inches (12.7 × 8.9 × 8.9 cm), edition of 20
© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Sky Backdrop, 2013 Acrylic on canvas, 108 × 192 × 4 inches (274.3 × 487.7 × 10.2 cm), Museum of Modern Art, New York© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Sky Backdrop, 2013

Acrylic on canvas, 108 × 192 × 4 inches (274.3 × 487.7 × 10.2 cm), Museum of Modern Art, New York
© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Valet Parking, 2013 (detail) Site-specific mural, Le Consortium, Dijon, France© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Valet Parking, 2013 (detail)

Site-specific mural, Le Consortium, Dijon, France
© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Lens, 2013 UV protective plastic lens, 96 × 84 × 14 ⅛ inches (243.8 × 213.4 × 35.9 cm), Centre Pompidou, Paris© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Lens, 2013

UV protective plastic lens, 96 × 84 × 14 ⅛ inches (243.8 × 213.4 × 35.9 cm), Centre Pompidou, Paris
© Alex Israel

Works from Alex Israel’s Self-Portrait series Installation view, Isbrytaren, Stockholm, 2013Artwork © Alex Israel

Works from Alex Israel’s Self-Portrait series

Installation view, Isbrytaren, Stockholm, 2013
Artwork © Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Maltese Falcon, 2013 Cast bronze with black patina, 10 ½ × 4 ½ × 3 ½ inches (26.7 × 11.4 × 8.9 cm), edition of 20© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Maltese Falcon, 2013

Cast bronze with black patina, 10 ½ × 4 ½ × 3 ½ inches (26.7 × 11.4 × 8.9 cm), edition of 20
© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Self-Portrait (Selfie and Studio Floor), 2014 Acrylic and Bondo on fiberglass, 96 × 84 × 4 inches (243.8 × 213.4 × 10.2 cm), The Broad, Los Angeles© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Self-Portrait (Selfie and Studio Floor), 2014

Acrylic and Bondo on fiberglass, 96 × 84 × 4 inches (243.8 × 213.4 × 10.2 cm), The Broad, Los Angeles
© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Untitled (Flats), 2014–15 Acrylic and stucco on aluminum, in 3 parts, left and right, each: 84 × 30 inches (213.4 × 76.2 cm), center: 96 × 60 inches (243.8 × 152.4 cm), Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Untitled (Flats), 2014–15

Acrylic and stucco on aluminum, in 3 parts, left and right, each: 84 × 30 inches (213.4 × 76.2 cm), center: 96 × 60 inches (243.8 × 152.4 cm), Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Self-Portrait (Wetsuit), 2015 Acrylic on aluminum, 79 ½ × 28 × 22 inches (201.9 × 71.1 × 55.9 cm), Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Self-Portrait (Wetsuit), 2015

Acrylic on aluminum, 79 ½ × 28 × 22 inches (201.9 × 71.1 × 55.9 cm), Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas
© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Desperado, 2015 Acrylic on bronze, 10 × 14 × 9 ½ inches (25.4 × 35.6 × 24.1 cm), edition of 8© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Desperado, 2015

Acrylic on bronze, 10 × 14 × 9 ½ inches (25.4 × 35.6 × 24.1 cm), edition of 8
© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Self-Portrait (Sunset Strip), 2016 Acrylic and Bondo on fiberglass, 96 × 84 × 4 inches (243.8 × 213.4 × 10.2 cm)© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Self-Portrait (Sunset Strip), 2016

Acrylic and Bondo on fiberglass, 96 × 84 × 4 inches (243.8 × 213.4 × 10.2 cm)
© Alex Israel

Installation view, Alex Israel | Bret Easton Ellis, Gagosian, Beverly Hills, 2016 Artwork © Alex Israel and Bret Easton Ellis. Photo: Jeff McLane

Installation view, Alex Israel | Bret Easton Ellis, Gagosian, Beverly Hills, 2016

Artwork © Alex Israel and Bret Easton Ellis. Photo: Jeff McLane

Alex Israel and Bret Easton Ellis, Different Kind of Star, 2016 Acrylic and UV ink on canvas, 84 × 168 inches (213.4 × 426.7 cm)© Alex Israel and Bret Easton Ellis

Alex Israel and Bret Easton Ellis, Different Kind of Star, 2016

Acrylic and UV ink on canvas, 84 × 168 inches (213.4 × 426.7 cm)
© Alex Israel and Bret Easton Ellis

Alex Israel, Sky Backdrop Mural, 2016 Site-specific mural, Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Sky Backdrop Mural, 2016

Site-specific mural, Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo
© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Pelican, 2017 Acrylic on fiberglass, stainless steel, aluminum, and plastic, 15 × 80 × 46 ⅞ inches (37.9 × 203 × 119.1 cm), edition of 3 + 1 AP© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Pelican, 2017

Acrylic on fiberglass, stainless steel, aluminum, and plastic, 15 × 80 × 46 ⅞ inches (37.9 × 203 × 119.1 cm), edition of 3 + 1 AP
© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Self-Portrait (Three Surfers), 2017 Acrylic and Bondo on fiberglass, 96 × 84 × 4 inches (243.8 × 213.4 × 10.2 cm), Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Self-Portrait (Three Surfers), 2017

Acrylic and Bondo on fiberglass, 96 × 84 × 4 inches (243.8 × 213.4 × 10.2 cm), Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC
© Alex Israel

Poster for Alex Israel’s feature film SPF-18 (2017) Artwork © Alex Israel

Poster for Alex Israel’s feature film SPF-18 (2017)

Artwork © Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Wave, 2018 Acrylic on fiberglass, 96 ½ × 96 ½ inches (245.1 × 245.1 cm), Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Wave, 2018

Acrylic on fiberglass, 96 ½ × 96 ½ inches (245.1 × 245.1 cm), Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Self-Portrait (Arcade), 2018–19 Acrylic and Bondo on fiberglass, 96 × 84 × 4 inches (243.8 × 213.4 × 10.2 cm)© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Self-Portrait (Arcade), 2018–19

Acrylic and Bondo on fiberglass, 96 × 84 × 4 inches (243.8 × 213.4 × 10.2 cm)
© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Solo, 2019 Holographic video installation, overall dimensions variableInstallation view, Reena Spaulings Fine Art, New York© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Solo, 2019

Holographic video installation, overall dimensions variable
Installation view, Reena Spaulings Fine Art, New York
© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Bat-Signal, 2019 Rented WWII-era spotlight modified with Batman logo, dimensions variableInstallation view, MAMO–Marseille Modulor, France© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Bat-Signal, 2019

Rented WWII-era spotlight modified with Batman logo, dimensions variable
Installation view, MAMO–Marseille Modulor, France
© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Self-Portrait (Pelican with Fish), 2019 Acrylic and Bondo on fiberglass with Snapchat augmented reality Lens, dimensions variable© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Self-Portrait (Pelican with Fish), 2019

Acrylic and Bondo on fiberglass with Snapchat augmented reality Lens, dimensions variable
© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Self Portrait (Enchanted Forest), 2020 Acrylic and Bondo on fiberglass, 96 × 84 × 4 inches (243.8 × 213.4 × 10.2 cm)© Alex Israel

Alex Israel, Self Portrait (Enchanted Forest), 2020

Acrylic and Bondo on fiberglass, 96 × 84 × 4 inches (243.8 × 213.4 × 10.2 cm)
© Alex Israel

About

Alex Israel explores and embraces pop culture as a global visual language. Deeply entwined with his hometown of Los Angeles, he traffics in the detritus of Hollywood film production—backdrops, sets, and props—while also inhabiting the roles of filmmaker, talk-show host, designer, and hologram. Israel’s art practice doubles as a brand, centered around a Southern Californian millennial lifestyle for which his iconic profile-in-shades Self-Portrait functions as a logo, mobilized across high-visibility platforms in the worlds of art, entertainment, fashion, and tech. Embedded within each of Israel’s endeavors are not only a landscape (of LA) and a portrait (of himself), but a savvy meditation on a world fueled by celebrity, product placement, and online influence.

Israel received a BA from Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, in 2003, and an MFA from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, in 2010. The following year, he began producing works at the Warner Bros. Design Studio in Burbank, California. These include Flats, a series of shaped panels airbrushed to suggest the distinctive gradients of LA sunsets, and Sky Backdrops, ethereal canvases depicting cloudy skies streaked with pink, blue, and orange. These series were born out of the set of As It Lays, a DIY talk show in which a deadpan Israel interviews celebrities about their everyday lives and routines as a form of portraiture. Israel’s Self-Portrait series began life as the show’s Hitchcock-inspired logo, evolving into color-block paintings on fiberglass panels, and ultimately into larger photorealistic paintings that feature the LA landscape, reflections on its culture industry, and clues to the artist’s process.

For Property, Israel’s first purely sculptural project, which he began as a student, he enlisted rented movie studio props as “inanimate actors” to perform the roles of various readymades in the gallery. Inversely, he will on occasion manufacture a seamless movie prop replica, transforming a silver-screen memory into a physical multiple. His Lenses, a series of high-gloss, massively scaled-up UV-protective plastic sunglass lenses, references 1960s California Finish Fetish sculpture and the artist’s own Freeway Eyewear brand. Self-Portrait (Wetsuits) are hollow cast aluminum figures that draw on classical antiquity, custom surf gear, and the artist’s feature-length take on the teen surf drama, SPF-18 (2017), which is available for streaming on Netflix and iTunes. Israel’s Waves, painting reliefs that turn the image of a cresting tide into yet another stylized logo, also have their origins in this film.

In 2016 and 2017, Israel’s collaboration with novelist Bret Easton Ellis resulted in two exhibitions of text paintings. Artist and author share a fascination with LA as both background and subject, and in their coproduced works reflect on the city’s mythos by setting Ellis’s short texts against Israel’s stock backdrops. Occupying the spaces of pop culture and media, Israel’s collaborations with Ellis, Louis Vuitton, Rimowa, and Snapchat—along with his own Infrathin Apparel clothing line and his embrace of mass platforms such as Netflix and YouTube—allow his work to engage directly with the mainstream, to glide across surfaces, from limited-edition consumer products to teenagers’ smartphone screens, moving through our thoughts, algorithms, and clouds.

Fairs, Events & Announcements

Gagosian’s booth at ART SG 2024. Artwork, left to right: © ADAGP, Paris, 2024, © Jonas Wood, © Rick Lowe Studio. Photo: Ringo Cheung

Art Fair

ART SG 2024

January 19–21, 2024, booth BC06
Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Singapore
artsg.com

Gagosian is pleased to participate in the second edition of ART SG, with a selection of works by international contemporary artists including Harold Ancart, Georg Baselitz, Ashley Bickerton, Amoako Boafo, Dan Colen, Edmund de Waal, Nan Goldin, Lauren Halsey, Hao Liang, Keith Haring, Damien Hirst, Tetsuya Ishida, Alex Israel, Donald Judd, Y.Z. Kami, Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Rick Lowe, Takashi Murakami, Takashi Murakami & Virgil Abloh, Nam June Paik, Ed Ruscha, Jim Shaw, Alexandria Smith, Spencer Sweeney, Stanley Whitney, Jonas Wood, and Zeng Fanzhi. The works on view, which embrace a wide variety of subjects and approaches, find artists infusing traditional genres such as history painting, portraiture, and landscape with new and surprising ideas that traverse cultural and temporal boundaries. 

Gagosian’s booth at ART SG 2024. Artwork, left to right: © ADAGP, Paris, 2024, © Jonas Wood, © Rick Lowe Studio. Photo: Ringo Cheung

Gagosian’s booth at West Bund Art & Design 2023. Artwork, left to right: © Zeng Fanzhi; © Katharina Grosse and VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, Germany 2023; © Spencer Sweeney; © Yayoi Kusama. Photo: Alessandro Wang

Art Fair

West Bund Art & Design 2023

November 9–12, 2023, booth A102
West Bund Art Center, Shanghai
www.westbundshanghai.com

Gagosian is pleased to participate in West Bund Art & Design with an extensive group presentation. The gallery will exhibit works by Harold Ancart, Georg Baselitz, Glenn Brown, Urs Fischer, Katharina Grosse, Hao Liang, Damien Hirst, Thomas Houseago, Alex Israel, Jia Aili, Anish Kapoor, Yayoi Kusama, Takashi Murakami, Takashi Murakami & Virgil Abloh, Albert Oehlen, Nam June Paik, Ed Ruscha, Alexandria Smith, Spencer Sweeney, Cameron Welch, Jonas Wood, and Zeng Fanzhi.

Gagosian’s booth at West Bund Art & Design 2023. Artwork, left to right: © Zeng Fanzhi; © Katharina Grosse and VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, Germany 2023; © Spencer Sweeney; © Yayoi Kusama. Photo: Alessandro Wang

Gagosian’s booth at Frieze Seoul 2023. Artwork, left to right: © Jadé Fadojutimi, © Jen Guidi, © Alexandria Smith, © Mehdi Ghadyanloo, © Rick Lowe Studio, © Jonas Wood. Photo: Sebastiano Pellion di Persano

Art Fair

Frieze Seoul 2023

September 7–9, 2023, booth C14
COEX, Seoul
www.frieze.com

Gagosian is pleased to participate in Frieze Seoul 2023 with a presentation of contemporary works by gallery artists, including Derrick Adams, Georg Baselitz, Dan Colen, Edmund de Waal, Jadé Fadojutimi, Urs Fischer, Cy Gavin, Mehdi Ghadyanloo, Nan Goldin, Katharina Grosse, Jennifer Guidi, Thomas Houseago, Alex Israel, Rick Lowe, Takashi Murakami, Nam June Paik, Giuseppe Penone, Ed Ruscha, Alexandria Smith, Anna Weyant, Stanley Whitney, Jonas Wood, and Richard Wright, among others.

Coinciding with the fair is the arrival of Jiyoung Lee, who was recently appointed to lead the gallery’s operations in Korea. Lee joins Gagosian following nearly fifteen years based in Seoul working on behalf of both Korean and Western galleries. Her appointment builds on the gallery’s establishment of a business entity in Korea last year, and provides for expanded activities in the region.

Gagosian’s booth at Frieze Seoul 2023. Artwork, left to right: © Jadé Fadojutimi, © Jen Guidi, © Alexandria Smith, © Mehdi Ghadyanloo, © Rick Lowe Studio, © Jonas Wood. Photo: Sebastiano Pellion di Persano

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Museum Exhibitions

Ed Ruscha, Honey . . . . I Twisted Through More Damned Traffic to Get Here, 1984, The Broad, Los Angeles © Ed Ruscha

On View

Desire, Knowledge, and Hope (with Smog)

Through April 7, 2024
The Broad, Los Angeles
www.thebroad.org

Desire, Knowledge, and Hope (with Smog) is drawn entirely from the Broad collection and showcases works by Los Angeles–based artists. Titled after a work by John Baldessari, the exhibition includes reflections on Los Angeles as a city in flux and turmoil, and on societal issues that extend far beyond the city. Featuring more than sixty works made from 1969 to 2023, it brings together photorealistic painting, photography, sculpture, and political signage by twenty-one artists across varying generations. Work by Mark Grotjahn, Alex Israel, Ed Ruscha, and Jonas Wood is included.

Ed Ruscha, Honey . . . . I Twisted Through More Damned Traffic to Get Here, 1984, The Broad, Los Angeles © Ed Ruscha

Jonas Wood, Patterned Interior with Mar Vista View, 2020, Rachofsky Collection, installation view, The Warehouse, Dallas © Jonas Wood. Photo: Kevin Todora

Closed

Room by Room
Concepts, Themes, and Artists in the Rachofsky Collection

September 9–November 25, 2023
The Warehouse, Dallas
thewarehousedallas.org

Room by Room builds on the ongoing interest at The Warehouse to reflect on the development of its collection, presenting works for the first time. Spanning a range of mediums, geographies, and eras, each gallery focuses on a single artist or theme, allowing an in-depth look at the artistic movements important to the collection from the outset, together with other avenues of interest that have developed over the years. Work by Richard Artschwager, Carol Bove, Alex Israel, Sterling Ruby, and Jonas Wood is included.

Jonas Wood, Patterned Interior with Mar Vista View, 2020, Rachofsky Collection, installation view, The Warehouse, Dallas © Jonas Wood. Photo: Kevin Todora

Alex Israel, Self-Portrait (Pelican with Fish), 2019 © Alex Israel

Closed

Alex Israel × Snapchat

November 29, 2021–May 15, 2022
Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, Florida
thebass.org

This exhibition uses Snapchat’s augmented reality (AR) technology to bring Alex Israel’s Self-Portraits to life, transforming five of his paintings into portals to immersive animated experiences. “Lenses” accessed through the visitor’s smartphone overlay Snapchat’s groundbreaking AR onto Israel’s physical works to offer viewers a new experience of painting. A site-specific sixth work interacts with the museum’s historic Art Deco façade, bringing the building to life.

Alex Israel, Self-Portrait (Pelican with Fish), 2019 © Alex Israel

Installation view, Alex Israel: Freeway, Fosun Foundation, Shanghai, November 11, 2021–March 6, 2022. Artwork © Alex Israel. Photo: JJY Photo

Closed

Alex Israel
Freeway

November 11, 2021–March 6, 2022
Fosun Foundation, Shanghai
www.fosunfoundation.com

Freeway features Alex Israel’s interpretations of the iconic Los Angeles motifs of sunshine, waves, and the sky, informed by his unique perspective on mass media and popular culture through the lens of his multiple identities as artist, entrepreneur, filmmaker, and talk-show host. This survey exhibition, covering the past decade of the artist’s career, includes works in a range of mediums, and is the first time that Israel’s Self-Portrait and Sky Backdrop series have been presented in China.

Installation view, Alex Israel: Freeway, Fosun Foundation, Shanghai, November 11, 2021–March 6, 2022. Artwork © Alex Israel. Photo: JJY Photo

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Press

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