Alex Blas, “Day Off #1″, 2006, Oil on Canvas
Alex Blas was born in 1978 in Mexico City, emigrated to the United States in 1988 and received his degree in 1999 from Santa Ana College. His work has been shown at the Lyons Weir Gallery, New York, and the George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, as well as Manifest Equality (Los Angeles) and at Legends of La Cienega, sponsored by Elle Décor magazine. He currently lives and works in Los Angeles and curates Artwerq at the Downtown LA Artwalk monthly.
Using his personal friends and real life experiences as inspiration for his subject matter, his large-scale oil paintings capture people in private moments; solo figures behaving as they do when no one is watching. In his three series: “Housesitter“, “Day Off” and “Friends“, Blas voyeuristic perspective turns the viewer into a fly on the wall, making us witness to personal indiscretions, pleasures and self-indulgence such as selfies, watching porn, masturbating, playing video games, talking on the phone and napping.