LLEI D'ART 13

en el estudio de… Mitch Griffiths in the studiowith… We’ve never beenmore connected and yet more isolated from each other, retreating into our devices of communication. If it’s more difficult for an artist to stand out then that can only be a good thing. It makes us try harder, towant to be better, to strive to rise above the bombardment andmake a connection. Mitch Griffiths (Nuneaton - England, 1971) MitchGriffiths MitchGriffiths producesmodernpaintings that address issues of identity and inclusion, obsolescence and conflict. A virtuosopainter, he employs a hyperrealist technique, working the canvas through the traditional chiaroscuro andutilising a single light source toboth shape and highlight his figures on the canvas. ‘Many people saymy paintings look photo- realist’, he says, ‘but it’s not what I’m trying to achieve. I’m trying tomake the viewer entermy reality.’ Touchingon themes such as nationhood, iconography, ‘cult beauty’ and celebrity culture, Griffiths is holding up amirror to society. By approaching these subjects in abold and unyielding manner, he creates potentially uncomfortable, though compulsive viewing scenarios.Maintaining an air of sensitivity, which provides abittersweet edge, hiswork remains bothpeculiarly beautiful andprofoundly disturbing. Through these contrived sets, Griffiths allows the viewer toboth identify with, andquestion the stories that play out across the canvas. Griffiths’ figures exist in a state of purgatory –neither holy nor common, famed nor unknown– hanging on the edge of a nirvanawhich is based no longer ondivinity, but insteadon a false sense of ecstasy ensuedby the rituals and expectedbehaviours of contemporary society. It’s definitely about recreating a vision forme. What Imanage toput on the canvas is normally about 10%of what I have inmymind. The process of creating awork is a tightropebetween small victories and crushing frustrations. Again, this goes right from the concept stage, setting outmodels and compositions toputting thepaint on the canvas. I have a very bi-polar relationship tomywork. Nothing is off limits really. I just paint what I feel. Theprocess of oil painting canbe quite slow and therefore, it canbedifficult to keep upwith the rate andwhich ideas spewout ofmy head. MitchGriffiths Intentar desentrañar las razones por las que una obra de arte pasa de ser simplemente buena a extraordinaria no es tarea fácil para el intelecto, aunque sí para los sentidos. No basta con que el artista ansíe llegar más lejos mediante la incorporación de elementos gratuitos cuya única función pudiera ser la de rellenar vacíos. Es preciso arriesgarse dejándose enredar por peligrosas estéticas capaces de crear magnetismo, de hablar de vulnerabilidad, de aislamiento, de MitchGriffiths. Cortesíadel artista/ Courtesy by the artist Griffiths en su estudio/ inhis studio Cortesía/ Courtesy M. Griffiths Nunca antes habíamos estado tan conectados y a la vez tan aislados los unos de los otros, refugiándonos en nuestros diferentes dispositivos de comunicación. Pero si eso implica que cada vez resulta más difícil para un artista conseguir destacarse, entonces la cosa no es tan mala, porque nos hace trabajar más duro y buscar ser mejores, esforzándonos para estar por encima de todo ese bombardeo y aún así conseguir conectar. Mitch Griffiths (Nuneaton, Inglaterra, 1971) 54