SHADES OF GRAY
In the spirit of civic responsibility and speaking from our position as thoughtful image consumers, we wonder if there can be a place for constructive criticism with respect to the photography of Todd Gray (“ ‘I Tawt I Taw a !#*?!’,†by Hunter Drohojowska Philp, Jan. 5)?
If we, on occasion, become entertained by Disney characters, Gray intervenes by exposing the meaning of entertainment (“cultural imperialismâ€). OK, this news is safely benign and de rigueur for the reception of an art school diploma, but good intentions in the commercial space come across as, well, Mickey Mouse. What makes Todd Gray’s work so ineffectual is not so much its tired message, but rather what the artist passes off as “complexityâ€: the inclusion of sex toys in his imagery! One wonders if complexity can be conjured up by a representation of something which in itself is already overcoded and marketed as “taboo.â€
That Gray sees no difference between a sex toy and a Disney character--their formal presentation is essentially the same--is less a complexity than it is his own (more interesting) perversity.
P.S. We were amused by your “Faces to Watch in ‘97†in the same issue. Is J. Paul Getty the L. Ron Hubbard of the art world?
ANI BENGLIAN
TED WALBYE
Los Angeles
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