Photographer Brings Fantastical Realism to Los Angeles
Joel Thurm photography exhibit at the IVAN Gallery Oct 2-November 10 brings new perspectives to familiar settings. Artist and photographer Joel Thurm finally brings his "fantastical realism" home to Los Angeles after wildly successful shows in Provincetown and Palm Springs. He is at the IVAN Gallery on S. Robertson Blvd through November 10, 2019.
- Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA (1888PressRelease) October 04, 2019 - After two successful shows in Provincetown and Palm Springs, artist-photographer Joel Thurm brings his “fantastical realism” home to Los Angeles for a month-long exhibit at the IVAN Gallery on South Robertson Blvd.
Comprising over thirty photographs, the exhibit showcases images that fairly jump out at the viewer. Thurm spent time in India and Cuba where he was enthralled and inspired by the vibrancy of the colors he experienced. That same vibrancy is present in everything he does: brilliant pinks, greens, and yellows make the viewer look at familiar scenes in a completely different way.
Thurm takes photographs of places, objects, and sometimes people; but that’s only the beginning. The photography is transformed as he begins to experiment with vibrancy and color, pushing the edges of what viewers might be able to see in a piece. Old images become new and unexpected; they reveal, paradoxically, more of the object or scene than do more realistic photographic techniques.
“Provincetown was a great learning experience for me,” says Thurm. “I ended up being part of a group show at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum where one of my pieces sold at auction for a hefty sum that benefited the museum. That helped me see that people really respond to what I do.” His week-long exhibit at Gallery 444 helped him understand how to show his work. “I think initially I came off as a used-car salesman,” he jokes. “Another gallery owner came in and explained how important it is to back off and let the art speak for itself.”
And speak for itself it does. Thurm’s follow-up exhibit in at Stephen Monkarsh’s Just Fabulous Gallery in Palm Springs was an overwhelming success. His work sold more pieces than any other new artist in the space—and that on a Labor Day weekend when temperatures peaked at 115 degrees on opening day. “I agreed to let Just Fabulous be the exclusive outlet for my work in Palm Springs,” says Thurm. “It’s just a really good fit.”
As for his unique style, “a friend told me I could fix photos by using the built-in tools on my Mac, and this opened my eyes to a whole new form of photography. When pictures couldn’t be fixed, I pushed them further out of focus and began to saturate the already saturated colors even more. The immediate result was the photos began to look like impressionist paintings.”
This eventually developed into the style Thurm calls fantastical realism, “where the finished product looks nothing like the original image, yet you can still tell that it is a picture of a building, a tree, etc.,” he says. The desert landscapes of California lend themselves well to this treatment, and Thurm has a portfolio of palm trees and desert scenes in riotous colors, many of which are part of the IVAN Gallery show.
The exhibition is on view from October 2 to November 10 during normal gallery hours, with an opening reception on Sunday, October 6, from 1:00 to 5:00pm, with a second reception Sunday, October 20, from 1:00 to 5:00pm.
About Joel Thurm: Born and raised on one of the last remaining farms in Brooklyn, NY, Thurm majored in theater and psychology and was the worst substitute teacher in modern times before becoming a casting director (for Grease, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Airplane, Starsky & Hutch, The Love Boat and Fantasy Island); but his passion was always photography. His stage and film background gave him a “Technicolor eye” which he brings to his art, and technology allied with imagination allows him to create what he terms Fantastical Realism, painterly photos in all imaginable hues. More at joelthurm.com.
About the IVAN Gallery: The gallery is located at 2701 South Robertson Blvd., Los Angeles. It is home to the work of Barbara Mendes and has space available for visiting and resident artists. The Gallery’s regular hours are Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday , 12 noon to 5pm and by appointment by calling (323)553-6021.
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