Celebrity Style

John Stamos, Josh Brolin, and More Celebrities Are Moonlighting As Artists at a Malibu Gallery

Their work is currently on view in an exhibit curated by photographer Brian Bowen Smith
a man wearing all black and yellow sunglasses standing in front of two pieces of art
John Stamos with his two mixed-media pieces.Photo: Brian Bowen Smith lumberyard gallery / Bill Kennedy

Although plenty of actors have evolved into roles behind the camera as producers, directors, and even financiers of film and television, some of Hollywood’s leading stars can add another hyphen to their careers—artist.

Celebrated photographer Brian Bowen Smith launched his latest group-art installation at the Malibu Lumber Yard Gallery Sunday evening, showcasing the first-time work of actors John Stamos and Josh Brolin.

In a light-filled rectangular space a stone’s throw from Surfrider Beach, their work will spend a month hanging alongside that of Incubus frontman Brandon Boyd, celebrity photographer Tyler Shields, Los Angeles nightlife impresario Brent Bolthouse, and painter/sculptor Chaz Guest (who counts Angelina Jolie and the Obamas as patrons), as well as Smith himself.

“I’m fascinated by idolatry and teen idols,” Stamos tells Architectural Digest of the inspiration behind his two pieces of work. This began after the passing of his mother, Loretta, five years ago.

“She kept every single magazine, receipt, drawing, everything. I stumbled upon these letters from Doreen Lioy, the Tiger Beat editor who was grooming me to be its next cover boy. She told me that she ‘saw something that captivated me,’” Stamos says.

“Doreen told that to only one other person: Richard Ramirez, aka the Night Stalker, a serial killer and rapist whom she married in 1996. Creating this art was cathartic and it’s totally different from showbiz, even though it plays with that theme,” Stamos explains. His two pieces, entitled I Saw Something That Captivated Me and Golden Boy, are both mixed media, 40" x 30", and priced at $10,000 apiece.

Brolin made the night a family affair, showing not only his own work but that of his son Trevor and his wife Kathryn. Cradling his seven-month-old daughter Westlyn, Brolin explained his 30" x 45" photograph entitled Garden of Eden to AD. “My daughter and I went to Cuba like 20 years ago. We were told to stay in Havana. We didn’t.”

Inspired by the likes of photographer William Albert Allard, Brolin snapped a shot of his daughter Eden, now 25, somewhere along a coastal road. “I’ve had a camera in my hands for 30 years and I’ve always been interested in what makes people tick,” he says. Shot with a Leica M6, this is his first, “but certainly not last” photograph for sale, he says. It is priced at $1,500.

Actors Greg Germann and Jason Lewis as well as musician Gavin Rossdale turned up to celebrate. “There’s no big statement needed for this show,” Smith tells AD. “Just a few friends, locals and artists sharing their passion for art.”

“Love and Art” will be open to the public from June 25 through July 21, 2019.