San José Museum of Art

See what you think.

Todd Schorr: American Surreal

  • A pirate monster party of nefarious looking creatures hanging out near a mount Vesuvius type explosion. In the background appears to be a sacrifice. An alien creature holds a kewpie doll in its tentacles. In the foreground a creature cooks others in a black cauldron.

    A Pirates Treasure Dream, 2006
    Acrylic on canvas
    72 x 96 inches
    Collection of Long Gone John, Washington
    Image courtesy of the artist

  • Dantesque scene of modern fairy tale villains and monsters being their best selves. There are dragons, Frankenstein, Nosferatu, King Kong, and a variety of other creatures in a hellish landscape.

    The Parade of the Damned, 2004
    Acrylic on canvas
    60 x 84 inches
    Collection of Mark Parker, Oregon
    Image courtesy of the artist

  • Cycloptic anthropomorphic cracked egg, dripping gold, dressed as a king, holding a dodo bird on a cliff over a lake with a mushroom cloud in the background. Humpty Dumpty finally makes it to the top of the mountain and is about to get radiation poisoning.

    Antidote for a Worry Some World, 2006
    Acrylic on canvas
    10 x 8 inches
    Collection of Merry Karnowsky
    Image courtesy of the artist

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    The Los Angeles–based artist Schorr is a leading figure in Southern California’s cartoonbased movement, dubbed “pop surrealism,” which embraces low-brow culture and a ribald graphic style indebted to pop sources such as Mad magazine. This exhibition was Schorr’s first mid-career retrospective.

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    Sponsors

    • Yvonne and Mike Nevens