Dark Comedy, 2025

Sayre Gomez  

Sayre Gomez (b. Chicago, 1982 ; lives in Los Angeles) has risen to prominence in recent years with his semi-fictionalized and photorealistic paintings, executed using a wide range of techniques, including trompe l'oeil, airbrushing, stenciling, and those employed in painting Hollywood sets. His work draws inspiration from the urban landscape of Los Angeles, featuring housing, road signs, billboards, and landmarks that serve as the backdrop for extended commutes throughout the city.

Many of Gomez's paintings touch on the beauty of nature, such as vivid sunsets and sumptuous palms, while also addressing themes like the passage of time, urban decay, commercial signage, and nostalgia. He synthesizes his observations into hyperreal images that challenge our ability to differentiate between authenticity and simulation. The flawless execution and even luminescence of Gomez's canvases, along with shifts between hard and sharp focus, can be seen as painterly reflections on the digital flattening and blurring of life and culture through screen-based technology. Openings and barriers, such as windows, doors, gates, shutters, walls, and fences, are recurrent metaphors in his oeuvre, suggesting that Los Angeles is a city of promise and freedom but also one of barriers and destitution. The artist also explores these themes through sculpture, installation, and video.

Sayre Gomez lives and works in Los Angeles. The artist holds an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts and a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Gomez's works are held in the permanent collections of the Hirshhorn Museum, Washington D.C.; The Broad, Los Angeles; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; mumok – Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, Vienna; The Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; ICA, Miami; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Buffalo; Aïshti Foundation, Beirut; Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin; Arsenal Contemporary, Montreal; Pérez Art Museum, Miami; Oketa Collection, Tokyo; Maki Collection, Tokyo; and Rubell Museum, Miami.

Portrait by Joshua White