Todd Gray: Euclidean Gris Gris

Photographic critiques of colonialism’s legacies, from a leading interrogator of cultural iconography

This is the most comprehensive publication to date of the multimedia works of American artist Todd Gray (born 1954). Superbly produced, with a two-piece foil-stamped cover, beautiful endpapers and an insert documenting a yearlong series of events inspired by Gray’s work, Euclidean Gris Gris features a selection of recent photographic works derived from his exploration of the legacies of colonialism in Africa and several other seminal works.

Based in Los Angeles and Ghana, Gray is best known for photography, performance and sculpture that address histories of power in relationship to the African Diaspora. In the new works featured in the catalog, Gray combines photographs from his archive, which he has assembled over decades, including his pictures of individuals and rural scenes in South Africa and Ghana, formal gardens of imperial Europe, constellations and galaxies, and images of musicians, such as Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder. The volume also includes a conversation between Gray and the artist Carrie Mae Weems.