ART: The Fantastical World of Joe Sorren

Author: Abby Wilcox
Posted on: Friday July 23, 2010 at 11:00 AM
Filed under: joe sorren, lowbrow, pop surrealism, artist, painter, illustration, justin timberlake, justintimberlake.com

Back in the 70s, Los Angeles became the main hub for the "Lowbrow" art movement. At the time, Los Angeles was unrestrained from following any art rules - because it had never been able to compete prior to art meccas like New York City and Paris. As LA is the land of Disneyland and lights, camera, action, it fostered the perfect breeding ground for this type of slap-in-your-face "not-art"-art. It was a cowboy terrain for artists - in which rules were meant to be broken.

Enter "Low brow" art, also called pop surrealism, which mish-mashed 1970s southern California cartoons, punk rock and hot-rod car culture in one big farcical jumble. "Low Brow" was exactly opposite from what people thought art in its pristine white galleries with elite clientele could be. Yet it celebrated and mocked American material culture at the same time.

Fast forward to 2010. One artist whose work alludes to this rogue creative movement is Joe Sorren, who transports viewers into a mysterious world of odd characters and imaginative environments with his illustrative oil paintings. A bit cowboy, a bit kitsch, yet remarkably clarvoyant and charming. Check him out in all of his creative glory:

ABOVE: Interruption

The above painting is a part of a ten painting exhibition at the California State University Fullerton's Grand Central Art Center (GCAC) in southern, CA from Nov. 6, 2010.

"Every painting straddles a line between whimsical and foreboding, while the titles add another layer of intrigue." commented GCAC's Krystal Glasman. "Sorren's palette is so recognizable; he has his own personal way of mixing muted and bright hues into beautiful washes."

ABOVE: Filling Little Thoughts with Little Ears

Sorren spends quite a bit of time in front of his typewriter in order to conceive the unique titles to his pieces. He claims that the titles are just as important as the paintings.