Aaron Axelrod is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice explores the collision of the fantastical, the mysteries of existence, and the spectacle of the physical world. Drawing from childhood fairy tales, psychedelia, the occult, and astrophysics, Axelrod creates work that blurs the boundaries between the surreal and the tangible, the scientific and the inexplicable, beauty and excess. Working across painting, sculpture, installation, performance, and video, his work has been exhibited internationally in galleries, museums, and public spaces.
Axelrod’s Melting Rainbows performance became the centerpiece of a national television advertising campaign developed by Myspace following its relaunch. Airing on MTV for a year, the campaign brought his work to a national audience. The performance continues to evolve through presentations at dome theaters and immersive venues.
In conjunction with the City of Los Angeles, Axelrod presented Dark Matter, a survey exhibition spanning a decade of his work across the entire grounds of Barnsdall Art Park, including the Frank Lloyd Wright Hollyhock House. The exhibition marked the first time in the history of Barnsdall Art Park and the Hollyhock House that a single artist had taken over the entire grounds in this capacity.
Axelrod’s collaborative practice includes projects for Walt Disney, Apple, Swarovski, Montblanc, Myspace, The Tonight Show, Coachella, Roche Bobois, and the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. His work has been featured in The Washington Post, Flaunt, LA Weekly, and VICE.
A graduate of the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), Axelrod lives and works in Los Angeles, the city where he was born and raised.
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