Colwyn Griffith, Graceland, 2004, Photography, C-type on Paper, 190 W x 121.9 H x 0.3 D cm

EMPIRE PROJECTS | COLWYN GRIFFITH
03.10.2007 | 04.29.2007

Based in New York, Ontario artist Colwyn Griffith produces large-scale colour photographs that investigate notions of empire. Whether using candy and other junk foods to construct elaborate reproductions of icons of excess such as Graceland in the USA or the Ministry of Oil in Saudi Arabia, or documenting the changing personas of failed fast-food chains; his work questions the ethics of western consumption. The resulting images are a blend of domestic craft, sculpture, architectural set design and, in the case of Reclamation; a documentary reflection on the irony endemic in a particular social history. 

Colwyn Griffith studied film and photography in Ottawa and Montreal. He has been producing food-based set photography since 1996. His large, luminous photographs have been shown in London, Tokyo, New York, Philadelphia and across Canada. In 2005, he received the use of a studio in Manhattan through the New York, Chashama AREA Award. His work is represented in Calgary by Skew Gallery.