halloffamevines

Kojo Griffin: The Soul of a Man and The Voice of Art

by Jasmine Vines

The human race can be deceiving. Lies hide deep behind their eyes and the truth stays locked away in their souls. Unfortunately, the key to the secrets of life are thrown away by mankind, but over time we have come to realize that individual emotion and voice can be better expressed and understood with a closed mouth and an open mind. One of life’s most vivid ways of communication lies deep within art and in the soul of an artist. One artist in particular, Kojo Griffin, has found a unique way to express the everyday conflicts between individuals. Creating the characters in his paintings with human bodies and animal heads helps him share the truths of life. Griffin truly fits into an artistic movement of his own time and has his own genre, finding his inspiration to create in places where most individuals would be distracted. Griffin is simply an artist shining a light on the dark side of soul existence.

Many would say that a passion for art is normally found in an early age and can then be pursued as a career option, but for the artist Kojo Griffin things are different. Artist and writer of the article, “Myths and its Discontents”, Maureen Mullarkey, found when Griffin first made his career choice, he went to school for psychology and was soon going to begin his career, but had a change of heart. She found that because his passion for art came at a later time in life then most he had actually only started to paint seven years ago (Mullarkey). Most artists would claim that they found that they were inspired to create masterpieces at an early age, but Griffin’s childhood memories were anything but memories of one of his drawings hanging up on the refrigerator door. Mullarkey claimed that as a chubby child going through the motions of early life depression, he was unable to focus on the things that a child would usually focus on (Mullarkey). “As an individual truly deprived of his childhood, he began to develop sensitivity to pain and knowing this helps others understand the history of his artwork,” states Mullarkey. Researchers find it common for a great life experience to influence the artist and their work. Mullarkey found that because of all that Griffin went through, his childhood is able to explain the emotional depth of his work (Mullarkey).

Most critics will be quick to say that every artist gets their inspiration from some previous artist and must belong to some type of historical artistic period in time. Writer of the article “KOJO GRIFFIN”, Philip Auslander, found that Griffin’s collections include art panels that are filled with anger, desire, sadness, and pain. For example, he found some paintings including a man violently shaking a screaming child, two men preparing to fight, and many other scenarios (Auslander). Others may compare his artwork to the type of work from places around the world instead of works in the United States. Auslander mentioned that creations that include figures that show love, threat comfort, and abuse have a great similarity to some Japanese art (Auslander). Columnist Blue Greenberg, writer of the article, “Kojo Griffin: Radical Evolution”, feels that Griffin’s art holds a particular style from the 1920s but it is more vivid and updated (Greenberg). Many would find that Griffin’s art is so unique that it can not really be put into one particular time frame. On the contrary, “The 1920s style is easily brought out of many of Griffin’s pieces,” declares Greenberg. To an art expert it is more evident that a painting with more machine parts than human parts holds a particular design from a particular time, but to an outside observer it may be hard to determine the time frame (Greenberg).

Society has decided that everything must have a title and everything has its place. Many have found that Griffin’s work has qualities that make it a contemporary type of art form. The Wikipedia encyclopedia states:

The term contemporary art generally refers to today's art. The use of the literal adjective "contemporary" to define this period in art history is partly due to the lack of any distinct or dominant school of art as recognized by artists, art historians and critics. It tends to include art made from the late 1960s to the present, or after the supposed or putative end of modern art, the Modernist period (however, artists are making "modern art" today, just as they are making art in practically all past styles or modes). Art made or performed since Modernism is also sometimes called postmodern art, but as postmodernism can refer to both a historical time frame and an aesthetic approach, and many contemporary artists' work does not exhibit some of the key elements of the postmodern aesthetic, "contemporary" may be preferred as a more inclusive adjective. (Wikipedia)

Critics explain that some new, yet similar contemporary artists include David Bade, Keith Edmier, Dani Jakob, and Stella Vine. Many believe that the indefinite ‘meanings’ in the works of these artists is what has given their work the title of ‘contemporary’.

Researcher Francine Koslow, writer of the article “Kojo Griffin (Reviews)”, found that Griffin has produced many works ranging from storyline sketches to large panels that contain a combination of paintings, drawings, and collage (Koslow). Many have come to find that Griffin has a wide range of artistic ability, whether it is a simple sketch or a layered painting, it holds a great type of significance. Koslow states the particular painting entitled “Untitled (Woman w/ Pan, Man Falling)”, was painted at a later time in this artist’s new career. She found the painting was created not too long ago, in the year 2003 and it could have been viewed in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Atlanta, Georgia (Koslow). Viewers might say that this particular painting is very similar to his other paintings because of the type of message that it tries to get across. Koslow believes that one of his main goals is to create a scene within each of his paintings for example, he may create various worried expressions on the faces of the victims through the shape of their eyebrows and the angle of their heads as he shares with the viewer that the victim is preparing for their death. She found that within all of Griffin’s paintings, including this one, there are various characters such as the heads of teddy bears, donkeys, elephants, and cloth dolls with human bodies, which are used to share a story with the viewer (Koslow). She knows that although some may find most of Griffin’s paintings difficult or too disturbing to interpret, others find them to be informative. It has been said that most intellectuals would strive to make something of the painting and relate it to the struggles of mankind.

Critics have noted that Griffin stayed artistically active within the same year that he painted “Untitled (Woman w/ Pan, Man Falling)”. It has been revealed by viewers that a couple of similar pieces that were also in the Museum of Contemporary Art were produced at the same time as this piece; they were entitled “Untitled (Boys Beating Boy Up)” and Untitled “(Doctor w/ Patient in Bed)”. Writer of “An Eye Toward the Future,” Dane Stickney found that Griffin had a new piece of artwork that was recently added to a museum. It was entitled, “Untitled (Elephant Watching Videos)”. He saw that Griffin’s work is so strange and off beat that it may soon become the centerpiece of the museum (Stickney). Critics point out that Griffin’s art has always been one of the major attractions and has always been able to capture anyone’s eyes.

Several individuals have observed the uniqueness of Griffin’s artwork. Writer Philip Auslander points out that it was easy to see that the colors of the characters are not only bold but also clearly separate them from the background. He saw that the lack of geographical definition in his art makes it hard for the viewer to understand if the painting is positive or negative (Auslander). Rebecca Dimling points out in her article, “Kojo Griffin at Vaknin Schwartz”, that in his art he creates weave-like structures similar to strands of DNA, which reminds the world that we are all somehow connected in life. “Although most viewers find it hard to interpret,” Dimling states, “Griffin simply wants his paintings to display common truths and the lessons that can be learned from them” (Dimling) Critics have found that the way that one views his artwork tells that individual something about themselves. Dimling found that in his paintings, his characters are not specific in that they show no signs of age, race, or social class; that tells his audience that these situations that Griffin paints could happen to anyone. Francine Koslow found that Griffin tries not to limit his characters to only one look (Koslow). Koslow saw that most artists portray Jews as mice and use cats to portray Nazis but Griffin simply relies on the expressions of his characters to get his point across. Overall, she argues that Griffin’s goal is to get a message across to the nation, to keep everything out in the open, and does not even try to soften reality (Koslow).

Many have come to find that the inspiration to create a piece of art can be found almost anywhere if you know what you are looking for. Writer of “The Sweet Flypaper Life”, Catherine Fox, points out that Griffin not only uses his pain to create his art, but he takes the truth and the dark side of life from out in the streets and uses it as his inspiration to create. Griffin goes to places where most artists would fear, takes his raw ideas and putting brush to panel (Fox). Greenberg found that unfortunately some of Griffin’s paintings have been exploited by other artists because they decided that his art form had come from the subconscious. Griffin is simply showing that he is a very bold painter, getting his ideas off of the streets (Greenberg).

Several artists have found that working with other artists of a similar type of genre has enabled them to come up with future masterpieces. Fox saw that recently there have been two other artists that griffin would occasionally work with. She found that when the three artists work on creating something together, one would draw something and the others would respond, so that in the end the sketches would co-exist (Fox).

Griffin is an artist unlike no other. His artwork is like nothing that I have ever seen before. I was instantly attracted to his style and his unique way of doing things. Most artists tend to stick to the painting guidelines and are afraid to step out of the box. While others tend to follow some undocumented list of rules on how to create a masterpiece, Griffin sticks to his own ways. Just as we have goals in life, Griffin has a goal that he tries to achieve in each of his paintings. His artwork is more than just appealing to the eye, it teaches a lesson that most people don’t want to learn. I truly enjoy griffin’s art because it speaks loud and is right to the point with the message that it conveys. I chose one of Griffin’s more recent paintings, entitled “Untitled (Woman w/ Pan, Man Falling)”, because it seemed like it could be interpreted in so many different ways. For example, in the paining that I chose there is a woman holding a pan and a man who at the time seems to fear for his life. Looking through Griffin’s different artwork, I have come to realize that each painting is just a frozen point in time, but when you analyze the painting it comes to life and tells a story. The painting that I chose could be telling society that it is time for women to take charge of their lives and defend their dignity. On the other hand, it could be revealing that the media always portrays the male as the abuser, failing to show that there are women out in the world who are just as dangerous yet, it is something that the world refuses to accept.

One of the reasons as to why I enjoy looking at not only the picture that I chose but all of his paintings, is because as I analyze each work of art I am analyzing myself. The way that I interpret his images shows me how I see myself in this world. If I were to say that my canvas is presenting a woman beating a man with a pan out of self defense, then that would tell me a lot about the way I see the weaknesses of women and the power of men. Griffin keeps his artwork straight forward and to the point because as an artist he is striving to take the blindfold off of the eyes of mankind.

Looking at this painting makes me feel as if I should take a look at the way that I am living my life. I have to stop and ask myself if it is me who Griffin is trying to reach. Am I living a life of secrets? Do I fear the truth so much that I become numb to the obnoxious lies society throws at me? All these questions seem to run through my head when I look at one of my artist’s paintings. And that is just what he wants. If he could simply get the world to take a second look at the way that they live their lives then he has become several steps closer to his goal.

There are so many different aspects to his paintings. There are so many vivid, contrasting colors, and there are several random shapes. Griffin’s art can at times appear to be layer upon layer of different shapes colors and actions. Shapes range from flowers to DNA like structures, and the colors contrast in order to bring out the most important parts of the artwork. This image could be broken down into several different pieces but together they have a greater impact. It could be that the different colors and shapes are our society and the people in it. It may represent our diverse nation and how we can either clash or work together as one to create a work of art. Griffin’s artwork is just a puzzle that can be solved on so many different levels.

This artist’s work has to be one of the most complex types of art that I have ever come across. I would have never thought that while studying a piece of art I can learn so much about myself and the world I live in. Griffin’s job is to take the blindfold off the eyes of humans but it is up to mankind to decide to accept the truth or live in denial.

Many have found that what is done in the dark will eventually be revealed in the light. Although some may find that saying to be slightly cliché, it has been shown that art is capable of putting the spotlight on those things which humans spend their lives trying to hide. Griffin’s work, along with many other artists may not be seen as masterpieces now but if given time, they are clearly on their way (Stickney). Many have come to believe that art is the voice of the man who hides secrets deep within his soul.

Works Cited

Auslander, Philip. “KOJO GRIFFIN.” Artforum International Magazine

01 Sep. 2000: 181.

Dimling, Rebecca. “Kojo Griffin at Vaknin Schwartz.” Art In America

01 Dec. 1999: 117.

Fox, Catherine. “The Sweet Flypaper Life.” The Atlanta Journal - Constitution

1(2004): 12K.

Greenberg, Blue. “Kojo Griffin: Radical Evolution.” The Herald Sun

04 June 2006: E2.

Koslow, Francine. “Kojo Griffin (Reviews).” Artforum International Magazine

01 Sep. 2002: 207.

Mullarkey, Maureen. “Studio Matters-Notes and Commentary.” Myths and Discontents. 005. 20 Oct 2006 <www.maureenmullarkey.com>.

Stickney, Dane. “An Eye Toward the Future.” Omaha World - Herald

18 Dec 2005: 01AT.

“Contemporary art.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 25 Oct 2006, 23:55 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 29 Oct 2006<1http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Contemporary_art&oldid=83742256>.

Fig 1: www.artnet.com

Fig 2: www.theprecipice.com

Fig 3: www.millerblock.com