Dave Tourjé is Nominated for Los Angeles Beverly Arts (LABA) Icon Award

Artist Dave Tourjé

Los Angeles, California, USA. 21st February, 2022. Dave Tourjé is a multi-talented artist with a successful career that has spanned across five decades in art, music, and film. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Tourjé grew up in the culturally eclectic Northeast area of Los Angeles (Glassell Park, Highland Park, Eagle Rock). He spent his youth during the 1970s and early 80s immersed in punk rock, surfing, skateboarding, and as a musician with the band "The Dissidents", playing shows with Camper Van Beethoven, Saccharine Trust, The Minutemen, and others.

As an artist, Tourjé delivers a highly-evolved hybrid of low and high art that blends narrative painting, Finish Fetish, constructivism, and street-related forms. His artwork often reflects the diverse culture of Los Angeles and has been exhibited in numerous gallery and museum shows. He is well-known for his use of bright colors, mixed media, organic and found materials, and reverse paintings on acrylic glass. Reverse glass painting is an art form based on a historical technique that consists of applying paint to a piece of glass and then turning the glass over to display the image.

Tourjé's accomplishments include receiving an MTV Music Awards special recognition in 1985, being the founder of the Chouinard Foundation in 1999 (he bought and restored the home of the renowned art educator Nelbert Chouinard), and being the founder of the acclaimed art group California Locos in 2011. The California Locos includes such art luminaries as Chaz Bojórquez, John Van Hamersveld, Norton Wisdom, and Gary Wong. In 2011, a short film entitled "LA Aboriginal" by Bayou Bennett and Daniel Lir was made about Tourjé's life. This film won 7 awards in 21 film festivals internationally and inspired him to also pursue his interest in films.

In the film world, Tourjé was the executive producer for the film entitled "Curly" for the Chouinard Foundation in 2013, which has won 5 awards internationally. His most recent film, “John Van Hamersveld - CRAZY WORLD AIN'T IT” is a short documentary film about the career of John Van Hamersveld, the artist behind many iconic pop-culture images of surf, music, and cinema since the 1960's, as seen through the eyes of those he inspired. This film has won 15 awards internationally, and was accepted for an Oscar review in 2021.

Tourjé's art educational background includes:

- Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, High School Program, 1977-78 - University of California, Santa Barbara, Fine Art, 1978-1980 - Guitar Institute of Technology, 1981 - West Valley Occupational, Sign Painting, 1984