Listen to the episode on Apple.
Listen to the episode on Spotify.
The work of Alex Israel is a love letter to Los Angeles. Whether that be in a painting, sculpture, film, video, prints, or fragrance, the LA native’s creative process is intrinsically linked to the city. His studio is on the Warner Brothers Studio backlot, where he makes paintings with the in-house artist who professionally paints movie backdrops.
His signature profile self-portrait is inspired by Hitchcock’s. He has collaborated with the quintessential L.A. writer Brett Easton Ellis. He has interviewed celebrities like Tom Hanks and Kris Jenner for his talk show “As It Lays” and appreciates the art and excess of fame, even in genres like reality TV (as we imagine, Andy Warhol would, too).
What I love about Alex’s work is that he is not afraid to challenge the strict binaries of the art world. He’s happy making art that exists in that in-between, that is maybe art-adjacent. In fact, he’s said he finds it freeing. I first met Israel at his fragrance release with Louis Vuitton that resulted in a cover story for Whitewall’s summer 2022 issue. Today, we continue that conversation, taking it way back to when his love for Los Angeles began.
Notable Insights:
“It felt like a healthy subversion to the expectation that is placed on artists, that everything that they do, or touch, or think, has to be art. And it doesn’t.” 10’14”
“We wanted to create a situation that was different from a regular talk-show, where we weren’t promoting things. It was really just about personality.” 19’50”
“All my inspiration came from driving around LA, my car was my studio. During the lockdown, I shifted to walking. I’ve been able to see things with so much more clarity, walking by them.” 35’37”
“There’s a much bigger role for art in our world than you might experience if you’re only within the confines of the art world.” 42’55”
Resources:
To learn more about the artist, visit HERE.
To read our Summer 2022 Cover story with Alex Israel, visit HERE.
