This website uses cookies to help us give you the best experience when you visit our website. By continuing to use this website, you consent to our use of these cookies.
Many people are anxious that the growing class divide in the art world and the succession of record-breaking prices paid for contemporary art endanger the belief system supporting it. But why is nobody worried about money itself? Isn’t what happens at an auction that money celebrates its freedom, its release from the burden of being a means of comparison? Is art the new money? On a currency that lives from the bank of the gaze, into which we all make payments.
Alex Israel was born in Los Angeles in 1982. His practice is multi-faceted, employing a variety of media to accommodate the many and varied flavors of his particular West Coast aesthetic. His blown-up sun shades, airbrushed self-portraits, and Hollywood props belie a deeply layered set of personal and pop cultural references that expertly reorient their context. His As It LAys series of celebrity interviews reflect the miracle and wonder that is life in L.A. and helped to bring a greater attention to his sun-drenched artworks. Since 2010 he has operated a sunglasses company called Freeway Eyewear that has lately begun collaborating with marquee artists to design new looks. The next collaboration is scheduled for release this holiday season. Israel is an unvaryingly upbeat artist, consistently delivering a cool optimism across his oeuvre. What is his secret? An interview by Jon Leon.
