L.A.-based visual artist Alex Gross has taken cabinet cards to a whole new level. In the late 1800s, cabinet cards were a stylish, high-brow way to present portraiture. The cards were about 4 ” x 6 ” and included information and advertisements on the back to promote the photographer. Due to the large size, a card could be displayed on a cabinet and easily viewed from across a room, hence the name. Today, Gross uses mixed media to transform these found sepia-toned portraits into a colorful, inventive collection of modern day characters and superheroes while retaining the faces of the original photographs.
Gross will have an exhibit at Jonathan LeVine Gallery in New York, NY, from February 25–March 24, 2012. The solo exhibition will feature 20 of these manipulated antique photographs as well as 19 of his other works. Additionally, he will be releasing a book in conjunction with this exhibit entitled Now and Then, The Cabinet Card Paintings of Alex Gross.
Alex Gross’s website
Jonathan Levine Gallery
via [Alex Gross] and [Junkculture]