David recently posted a video to announce the exhibition at the San Jose Museum of Art of Todd Schorr’s fantastically detailed, feverish paintings.
I have a copy of the large-format book, American Surreal (published by Last Gasp), which has high-quality reproductions of his paintings, along with preliminary sketches, details, commentary, and other supplemental materials. His work is a well of novelty that never runs dry, no matter how often you draw from it.
The latest collection of paintings by one of contemporary surrealism’s most influential artists. American Surreal picks up where Dreamland, Schorr’s previous bestselling collection of mind-bending paintings left off. Look forward to countless hours of eye bulging investigative thought while examining the impeccably rendered subject matter that has become the hallmark of Schorr’s outrageous vision. Schorr, one of the seminal figures in what has come to be known as the Lowbrow or Pop Surrealism art movement, has continually and systematically set the bar ever higher in his quest to bring classic old master painting technique to his pop culture infused subject matter. This latest collection continues that journey culminating with the epic masterpiece Ape Worship included in this volume. Schorr’s paintings are the subject of two upcoming museum retrospectives, and are highly prized and coveted by collectors the world over. American Surreal is sure to satisfy those with an overly-developed visual appetite.
Todd Schorr’s formative years were spent surrounded by the atomic and space ages; by Saturday morning cartoons and racks of comic books; by Revell models, Mad Magazine, Testors glue, Mickey Mouse, and Rat Fink. The compulsion to replicate these images led to a formal art education and exposure to a new set of influences drawn from the world of advertising and commercial art.
UPDATE: Ben Marks of KQED public radio reviewed the show.
American Surreal, by Todd Schorr