Todd Gray (artist)
Todd Gray (born 1954 in Los Angeles, California) is a contemporary artist who lives and works in Los Angeles and Ghana. Writing in the catalogue for the exhibition Black is, Black Ain't at the Renaissance Society, Chicago, Amy M. Mooney writes "critics have noted that Gray's work is "fluent in cultural iconography, driven by introspection, and steeped in issues of corporate politics and racial identity" and that his self-portraits thwart a traditional read of the exterior likeness"[1]
| Todd Gray | |
|---|---|
| Born |
1954 Los Angeles, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | California Institute of the Arts |
| Known for | Photo, performance, sculpture, installation |
Education
Gray got his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), Valencia, California in 1979 and his Master of Fine Arts from CalArts in 1989.[2]
Early career
Beginning in the early 1970s while still in high school, Gray worked as a commercial photographer in the music industry, photographing rock and R&B acts such as the Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder and Gladys Knight to name only a few.[3] He continued to do so throughout the 70s, allowing him to pay for college and then art school. After graduating with his BFA from CalArts, Gray was asked by Michael Jackson to become his personal photographer, which he did in the period 1979-1983, during the time of Jackson's landmark albums Off the Wall and Thriller.[4]
Exhibitions
Recent solo and group exhibitions of Gray's work include the Luckman Gallery, California State University, Los Angeles, Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY, USC Fisher Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California African American Museum, Los Angeles, Tucson Museum of Art, Detroit Museum of Art, the Renaissance Society, University of Chicago among others.[5]
Works in Institutional and Museum Collections
Gray's work can be found in a number of institutional and museum collections, of partial list of which includes, the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY, the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, SFMOMA, San Francisco, CA, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, LACMA, Los Angeles CA, Museum of Contemporary Art, MOCA, Los Angeles, CA, the University of Connecticut, Hartford, CT, the Norton Family Foundation, Santa Monica, CA, the California Community Foundation, Los Angeles, CA,and the University of Parma, Parma, Italy.[6]
External sources
References
- ↑ English, Darby; et al. (2013). Black is, Black Ain't. Chicago: The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago. ISBN 978-0941548601.
- ↑ Joyce, Julie (2004). Immaculate. Los Angeles: Luckman Fine Arts Complex, California State University. p. 52. ISBN 978-0974039817.
- ↑ Gray, Todd (2009). Before He Was King. San Francisco: Chronicle Books LLC. p. 13. ISBN 978-0811875066.
- ↑ Gray, Todd. "I'm With Michael". Vanity Fair. Condé Naste. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
- ↑ Joyce. P.52
- ↑ Joyce. P.53