Born: Palm Springs, California

Education: Art Center College of Design

 

Glen Wexler is an American photographic artist whose work explores the intersection of constructed reality and conceptual surrealism. Known for highly staged photocompositions and technical precision, his narrative-driven images blend cinematic sensibility with visual irony and controlled complexity.

 

Wexler’s current bodies of work explore the threshold where landscape dissolves into perception, distilling desert and horizon into elemental fields of light, color, and atmosphere that blur the boundary between photography, painting, and experiential space.

 

Trained in film photography and traditional darkroom processes, Wexler was an early adopter of digital imaging in the 1980s. His practice continues to evolve through the integration of computer-generated imagery, examining the shifting boundaries between perception, authenticity, and artifice in contemporary image-making.

 

Wexler’s work has been exhibited internationally, including at ZonaMaco (Mexico City), Photo London, MIA Photo (Milan), The PHAIR (Turin), the Art Institute of Atlanta, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. His photographs are held in institutional and private collections, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and the George Eastman Museum. Notable commissions include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

 

Wexler’s images have appeared on the covers of TIME and Rolling Stone. He has photographed major advertising campaigns for global brands including Sony, Adobe, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, and Maxell’s 1992 Blown Away reboot. He also designed photographic logos for the Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition and Batman Forever, winning a Hollywood Reporter Key Art Award in 1996.

 

He is the author of three critically acclaimed monographs: 25:25 (2005), The Secret Life of Cows (2007, foreword by Eric Idle), and The ’80s Portrait Sessions (2019, foreword by Billy Gibbons). Wexler was inducted into the Album Cover Hall of Fame in recognition of his contributions to visual culture, including work for artists such as Michael Jackson, Van Halen, Black Sabbath, ZZ Top, and Rush.

 

Tim Wride, former curator of photography at LACMA, described Wexler’s work as “both meaningful and memorable,” emphasizing his innovation and clarity of vision.

 

Wexler lives and works in Palm Desert, California, where his studio practice focuses on personal, concept-driven fine art photographic work.