Afrotronic 8409 by Todd Gray (2011), 10/20
Todd Gray (b. 1954)
Afrotronic 8409, 2011
Limited Edition
Archival inkjet print
20 x 16 in | 50.8 x 40.6 cm
Edition 10 of 20
Signed with pencil on verso at bottom left and numbered at bottom right.
Hand-signed by Artist | Unframed
Los Angeles based artist Todd Gray re-frames and re-contextualizes images from his personal archive that spans over forty years of his career as a photographer, sculptor and performance artist. Gray describes himself as an artist and activist who primarily focuses on issues of race, class, gender and colonialism.
His unique process of combining and layering a variety of images and fragments of images allows him the opportunity to create his own history and “my own position in the diaspora.” Working with photographs of pop culture, documentary photographs of Ghana (where he keeps a studio), portraits of Michael Jackson, gang members from South Los Angeles and photo documentation from the Hubble telescope, Gray asserts what he refers to as his own polymorphous identity that defies definition. Inspired by the work of cultural theorist Stuart Hall, Gray invites the viewer to participate in an “ever-unfinished conversation about identity and history.”
The artist's work is included in important public collections such as the Los Angeles Contemporary Museum of Art / LACMA and Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles / MOCA.
The Venice Family Clinic Art Within Reach Editions were organized by artist Kim Schoenstadt and printed by Arris Editions in 2011. All proceeds benefit the Venice Family Clinic Foundation.