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Lot 15

Alex Israel
(B. 1982)
Untitled (Flat), 2013

15 February 2020, 12:00 PST
Los Angeles

Sold for US$81,325 inc. premium

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Alex Israel (B. 1982)

Untitled (Flat), 2013

acrylic on stucco, wood and aluminum

60 x 60 in.
152.4 x 152.4 cm.

Footnotes

This lot is offered without a reserve.

Provenance
Darrow Contemporary, Los Angeles
Private Collection


Born in Los Angeles in 1982, where he continues to live and work, Alex Israel is a multimedia artist whose work is deeply rooted in the light, iconography, and industry that defines his hometown. Israel has said 'Los Angeles, in my opinion, is the place where the American dream is most alive. I think it might be the most imagination-driven, and most creative city in the world.' (interview with Dirk Vanduffel, 'This is how the song, California Calling by the Beach Boys starts...', Artdependence, 17 July 2017). Israel's boundless creativity and California aesthetic finds expression in a vast array of media – painting, sculpture, installation, performance and even designing sunglasses (an LA staple) and partnerships with luxury brands to create handbags and more. In this way he not only shows us the dream in his work, but embodies it himself.

Untitled (Flat) is part of a widely-recognized and signature body of work by the artist. In this painting, Israel references not only the particular and stunning light that bathes Los Angeles but also the architecture of a window frame, providing an almost Magritte-like surreal viewing experience. His work has been compared to Andy Warhol's with its canny ability to be recognizable, aspirational, slick, calculated, familiar and removed all at once. The present lot shows Israel embracing the cliché of the American Dream, of California as the sunny and optimistic land of opportunity and fame. Israel creates visually gorgeous works that draw us in and simultaneously help us explore the mythologies that loom large in our celebrity (and social media influencer) driven cultural/commercial ideals of today.

Israel's works are included in numerous important permanent collections, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Netherlands; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.

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