Merry Karnowsky Gallery
170 S. La Brea Avenue
(in the ART 170 Building)
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 933-4408
Afternoon Reception: Saturday, June 19, 3 - 6pm
Gallery Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 12 - 6pm
Merry Karnowsky Gallery is proud to present a retrospective of limited edition giclées by renowned American artist Todd Schorr, in association with “Designed For Extinction,” an exhibition of Schorr’s paintings at Otis College of Art and Design’s Ben Maltz Gallery. At Merry Karnowsky Gallery’s afternoon reception on June 19, complimentary beverages and light hors d’oeuvres will be served, and a special drawing will be held to win a limited edition giclée by the artist.
One of the most prominent pop surrealist painters working today, Schorr uses the exacting techniques of the old masters to paint colorful cartoon characters, corporate mascots and other pop culture icons in a unique style he calls “cartoon realism.” Schorr’s work is highly influenced by the popular culture of his childhood: post-war 1950’s America. The compulsion to replicate the characters he saw in cartoons, commercials, comic books and magazines led to a formal education at The Philadelphia College of Art.
Schorr began his career as an illustrator in New York City, which exposed him to a new set of influences from the world of advertising and commercial art. Though his career as an illustrator was successful (his work appeared on the cover of Time Magazine in 1982), Schorr soon left the commercial world and began expressing his ideas on canvas. In 2008 Schorr’s work was shown at the Laguna Art Museum as part of “In the Land of Retinal Delights: The Juxtapoz School,” and a solo retrospective “American Surreal” was held at the San Jose Museum of Art in 2009.
Schorr’s work has been featured in Juxtapoz, Dangerous Ink, Art Ltd, HiFructose, Beautiful/Decay, and in the documentary film The Treasures of Long Gone John. Three books of Schorr’s work have been published, American Surreal, 2009, Dreamland, 2004, and Secret Mystic Rites, 1998. He currently resides with his artist-wife Kathy in Los Angeles, CA.
