Term Papers on Todd Gray

Term Paper Title	Todd Gray
# of Words	809
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	3.24

Todd Gray

Todd Gray: Iconographic Photography

The subjective nature presented in Todd Gray’s photographs appears to
reflect the upbringings of the artist himself. In his photograph entitled
Anti-Euro, Gray studied the idea of being a “floating entity.” He attempts
to reveal the notion that all people are mixed in some way and that no one is
really pure black or pure white. He conceived the notion of creating his own
mythology after reading influential books. Gray states, “I would read Greek
and African mythology books and try to navigate between the two. I thought I’d
create my own culture” (Philip, Los Angeles Times, January 1997). Gray’s
other piece entitled, “Boxer punching buildings,” reveals aspects of his
frustration and disturbance toward society. The piece is composed of images of
an African American boxer throwing a punch at a large corporate building. He
presented it as a series of posters that were placed throughout the city to be
viewed by the public. During lecture, he explained that the poster was a
metaphor of classic slavery versus the corporate conglomerates of society. Gray
explains, “I was thinking about the gladiators of the past, dark people who
had to fight against domination. The same system seemed to be intact” (Philip,
Los Angeles Times).

As most identify Gray as being the ex-photographer of Michael Jackson, his
attempts and success to step into the realm of fine art was mainly due to
expressing his emotions. Gray states, “It was important to show that I could
do both [fine and commercial art] and keep the integrity. It’s like blacks and
other minorities share with women, that we’ve got to work twice as hard to get
half as far” (Philip, Los Angeles Times).

As Gray found himself becoming immersed in commercial arts, he returned to
the school where he received his undergraduate degree to “recommit” himself
to art. It was there that he found his new centerpiece for his artwork and a new
perception of the innocent. His interest on Disney characters and toys derived
from an observation that cartoons and popular culture influenced people.
According to Hunter Drohojowska Philip, “He soon found himself viewing the
ubiquitousness of seemingly innocent cartoon characters as a form of cultural
imperialism” (Los Angeles Times).

During the past eight or so years, Gray devoted most of his time to
investigate the ideas of what forms our thinking, or rather, what informs our
culture to think a certain way. His study began with the iconography of
characters that are noticed and identified by everyone in this world, Disney
characters. His portrayal of simple and lovable cartoon...

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