Shop available work by Max Neutra HERE

Born 1978 in Venice Beach, CA.

Max Neutra was born in an apartment just across from the Sidewalk Cafe on the boardwalk of Venice Beach. It was not long before his parents began to hear the call of New Mexico and so at age six his family moved to an old coal mining town called Madrid twenty miles south of Santa Fe.  It was in this small town where Max spent his youth running wild in the desert, often coming home at the end of the day with his face blackened from the dust of the the coal hills.

In Santa Fe 1997, Max graduated from an alternative high school program called ACAT (Academy of Communication Arts and Technology) and followed with a bachelors degree in the sound arts from Expression Center for New Media in the bay area in 2000. Rather than following in the footsteps of his great-grandfather, Richard Neutra, Max pursued his creative passions through experimentation in music and designing sounds rather than designing structures.

Throughout his entire life, Max has always felt driven to create.  Most of his school work was decorated with sketches and illustrations, and he left a trail of drawings gifted to friends throughout the years. But it wasn’t until 2005 that Max turned to visual art as a career. After an epiphany in a coffee shop, Max had realized that his most natural state was one of creative output, and that was the very moment he decided that his calling was to be an artist.

Buying himself some proper art supplies, Max quickly got to work discovering and defining his visual voice. With influences like Ralf Steadman, Gerald Scarfe, and Egon Schiele, he developed a loose and expressive style.  He worked in a quick and messy fashion, and soon realized that he did not mind painting in front of an audience.  After spending five years painting live on the streets, in galleries, bars, clubs, and festivals in Los Angeles, Max Neutra made a name for himself as one of the city’s premier contemporary artists.  He has been commissioned by Toyota, Warner Brothers Records, and has risen to the international arena through sponsored tours across Europe and India.

Being a self taught artist has allowed Max to develop a style that is distinctly recognizable as his own.  Riding the line between mayhem and control, he paints images that are both chaotic and contained, each canvas an arena where chance and skill come together to create a colorful fusion of iconic imagery.  Utilizing his distinctive gonzo style, he explores subjects such as the dark side of humanity, the beauty in nature, the fading line between man and machine, and brutal truths we often avoid, all while matching his subjects with the expressive vitality they deserve.

From the artist:

I strive for each painting to be like a signature. Quick and messy. Brave and permanent. Unmistakably written by my hand. Produced by the machine that is my body.  I indulge in the imperfections of myself and the world around me, and marvel at the inherent factors of chance that the process provides. Through practicing this approach, a stream of surprises emerge and I am in a constant state of discovery.

Gabba Solo Exhibitions:
Power Up, April 2017
September 2016
Four View, June 2015