Long Beach artist Alex Gardner creates acrylic scenes with ink-black figures set against pastel backdrops. The artist intends to “de-inviduate and universalize” with this approach toward his subjects, one statement says. Part of the work’s excellence is found in its subtly, playfully reflecting and juxtaposing texture and color. The artist wouldn’t use the phase “surrealist” in this scenes, instead reflecting widely relatable themes in his work.
“In these paintings the artist charges the familiar with poignancy, highlights the details as important, and paints figures that all genders and races could see themselves in,” a recent statement says. “Mimicking snippets of classical painting—from an El Greco hand to a Pietà carry, a crucifixion foot, a Michelangelo muscle group—he is not just inserting his contemporary identity into art history, but also opening up these art historical perspectives for all viewers to connect with.”
See more works from the artist’s below.
Edinburg based artist 
Born in Philadelphia and raised in Fresno, 
In Oliver Vernon's new abstract works at an upcoming KIRK Gallery show, the artist abandons collage entirely and pushes his work forward only using acrylics. "Brushing Away the Veil," starting on Nov. 2, represents a new body of work and direction for the Brooklynite. There’s another new component to the works, as well, as Vernon says “is the excavation of buried paint layers through sanding. Since many of these pieces have had numerous stages of accumulation, they were like gold mines of hidden color.”