I've always thought of Alexis Ross as a key example of that sort of "guy behind the guy" genius. He has had his fingers and influence over a ton of projects that you remember (Street Market, Art In the Streets) but rarely gets the accolades for his original and fantastic artworks he makes himself. When he was on the cover of the May 2014 issue (seen below), it was in honor of his own works, quirky and yet so Southern Californian. He latest show, Part Time Lover, is currently on view at V1 Gallery in Copenhagen. 

"This group of paintings is a continuation on a theme common in most of my stuff. A sort of day-dream where the main character has had it with responsibility and is ready to flip life the bird. Ready to tune out the noise and do a complete U-turn with his life. While the characters in these paintings are all well over the age of forty, their actions and impulse is more on par with that of a twelve-year-old. Which is about the age I was when I was first ready to check out. The bricks and waves here come from the imaginations of every twelve-year-old Southern Californian kid that came before me. These were the images that were graffitied on the inside of the text books we had in school. These were some of the first things I learned to draw. It seemed like a much better way to pass the arduous school day. I always wanted to be somewhere else. No I was never dreaming of surfing. I was mostly happy to be practicing my hand inside those text books, while I pretended to follow along with the reading. Now I'm a grown-up and it still feels like I'm pretending to read along with the class sometimes. Waiting for the next bus, so I can hang my ass out the back window and tell them all to eat a turd." —Alexis Ross

juxtapoz 160 may14