ALEX

Alex George Darocy is based in the California County of Santa Cruz, where he has lived since he was three. Growing up in that politically and socially diverse, and often radical environment near the San Francisco Bay Area had quite an influence on his outlook on life. He lives with an extreme sense of personal freedom and strives to behave and live consciously. Alex has been taking pictures since he was 10 years old, and his medium of choice is film photography. His favorite subjects to shoot are toys and phallic fruits and vegetables, often in combination. By placing two toys together in a scene, or a banana and a toy together, and then photographing them closeup with macro equipment, Alex creates art that verges on both the psychological and the political. Using found objects as the fabric of his creations enables Alex to comment on what is available to consumers in the market place. Their often bizarre designs, as well as the social conditions the objects are made in, dramatically affect the tone of the photos as well. Some themes that Alex commonly likes to play with include sexual objectification, the American diet, physical and mental abuse, the abuse of political power, the power balance in relationships, unrequited love, social justice, animal rights, obsession, sexual frustration, patriarchy, fascism, anarchy, feminism, body image in society, holiday rituals, majority rule, dogma, the desensitization of human emotions, gender objectification, homophobia, out of control biological functions, infestation, toxicity, personal integrity, and evolution. In his most recent series he has taken on the topic of the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM) spraying.


THE PHOTOS

All of the photos on this site (with the exception of the above digital self-portrait) were single exposures taken with a Hasselblad medium format film camera, and were originally printed on color photographic paper in the dark room by Alex himself. They range in size from 15x15 inches to 29x29 inches and really must be seen in person for one to fully appreciate their high quality of detail, vivid colors, and scale. The photos selected for this site are all part of themed sets that include other photos not shown here. Limited edition prints by Alex are available for purchase in a variety of photo sizes. For information on print prices and ordering, commissioning an artwork, gallery representation, or show proposals, please email Alex directly at alex@alexdarocy.com


PAST SHOWS AND EXHIBITIONS

-2008-

Lens Flair, Group Exhibition, The Mill Gallery, Santa Cruz, Ca, April 2008

Solo space in Member's Exhibition, City Art Gallery, San Francisco, Ca, March 2008

LBAM You're Dead, Solo Exhibition, Blue Room, Caffe Pergolesi, Santa Cruz, Ca, February 2008

-2007-

Solo space in Member's exhibition, City Art Gallery, San Francisco, Ca, November 2007

Transformations, Group Exhibition, City Art Gallery, San Francisco, Ca, October 2007

Toxic Babies, Solo Exhibition, Blue Room, Caffe Pergolesi, Santa Cruz, Ca, September 2007

Solo space in Member's exhibition, and Naked in August, Group exhibition, City Art Gallery, San Francisco, Ca, August 2007

Solo space in member's exhibition, and Bent, Group Exhibition, City Art Gallery, San Francisco, Ca, June 2007

Food Chain, Solo Exhibition, Blue Room, Caffe Pergolesi, Santa Cruz, Ca, May 2007

Face Yourself, Solo Exhibition, Green Room, Caffe Pergolesi, Santa Cruz, Ca, March 2007


-2006-

Eye Candy and the Food Chain, Solo Exhibition, Cabrillo College Photo Department, Aptos, Ca, September-October 2006


-2005-


Phallic Fruits and Veggies, Solo Exhibition, Stare Gallery, Cabrillo College Photo Department, Aptos, Ca, September 2005

Two Untitled Photograms, Group Exhibition, VAPA Display Window, Cabrillo College, Aptos, Ca, March 2005



REVIEWS/PRESS

Interview with photos, The Voice, March 10, 2008, cabrillovoice.net

Review of LBAM You're Dead with photo, Good Times, February 14, 2008, gtweekly.com

Interview with photos, The Voice, November 6, 2007, cabrillovoice.net

Review of Toxic Babies with photo, Good Times, September 20, 2007, gtweekly.com



ART PHOTOS PUBLISHED IN PRINT PUBLICATIONS

LBAM Tattoo, Bay Area Reporter, March 6, 2008, ebar.com

Food Stuffs 1, The Guide, Santa Cruz Sentinel, May 11, 2007, santacruzsentinel.com

Purity, Gomma, Issue 3, 2007, Gomma Magazine Ltd, UK, gommamag.com 



ARTS EDUCATION

Film Photography, Art History, Art Theory, Cabrillo College, Aptos, Ca, 2005-2008



AFFILIATIONS

Alex is a member of City Art Gallery, which is an artist owned and operated cooperative art gallery in the Mission District of San Francisco where monthly, members may show their art in either their own spaces or in themed group shows. When showing art, members also work gallery shifts that month to support the coop. Alex has been a member since March of 2007.
 
City Art Gallery
828 Valencia St, San Francisco, Ca, 94110
http://www.cityartgallery.org



CONTACTING ALEX

Email:
alex@alexdarocy.com

MySpace:
http://www.myspace.com/alexdarocy




Alex and his photos at Caffe Pergolesi in May 2007





Alex's photos in his November 2007 space at City Art Gallery

Alex's photo Death Conspiracy (2006) was featured on the announcement postcard for City Art Gallery's October 2007 show