New Film Portrait Follows Sayre Gomez Through Los Angeles

A new film portrait of Sayre Gomez follows the artist through his Los Angeles studio and across the city that has long shaped his work. The portrait is presented on the occasion of the exhibition 'Sim City'.

'Sim City', Gomez’s third exhibition at Xavier Hufkens, brings together a new body of paintings, figurative sculptures and works on paper that continue his engagement with the urban framework of Los Angeles and the mechanisms of image making. The exhibition wrestles with representations of a city that is itself a symbol of artifice: a protagonist and backdrop, home and fantasy, paradise and myth.

Reflecting on image circulation, the history of airbrush and contemporary American life, Gomez discusses his engagement with the visual language of Los Angeles, alongside personal reflections on memory and fatherhood. Known for his semi-fictionalised, photorealistic paintings, he employs a wide range of techniques, including trompe l’oeil, airbrushing, stencilling and methods used to paint Hollywood sets.

Inspired by the urban landscape of Los Angeles, Gomez synthesises his observations into hyperreal images that challenge the ability to differentiate between authenticity and simulation: a cityscape that feels true to life might just as easily be an artificial construction. An event at Rivoli was scheduled for 24 September, 5–8pm.

Sayre Gomez was born in Chicago in 1982 and lives and works in Los Angeles.