Fans of Alex Gross (interviewed) will no doubt know about his special interest in cabinet cards, a style of mounted photography widely used for photographic portraiture after 1870, with the latest produced up to the 1920s. From the dates, you can probably guess that these are collectibles, of which the Los Angeles-based painter has been acquiring for a while now. Gross shared some of his collection with us when we visited his studio back in 2014, so it’s always fascinating for us to see when he paints over them to turn them into portraits of his favorite comic book characters, superheroes, and icons of pop culture. After purchasing these at various flea markets and eBay among other places, his astute eye and imagination takes in each subject or group of subjects and an idea begins to form as to who they resemble the most. You can see some his more recent creations below…

Discuss Alex Gross here.