Following this, Griffiths became artist-in-residence at
a luxury retreat in Cornwall called Hustyns, where many boxers
trained, also setting up the Bishop Phillpotts Gallery
in Truro, Cornwall. His distinctive figurative style was honed
during these early years, making several visits to London's museums
to examine seminal works of and explore the culture of the Old
Masters. In 2001 Griffiths entered the National Portrait Gallery BP
Portrait Award, with the piece used as the exhibition's promotional
poster. Halcyon Gallery started permanently representing Griffiths
in 2004, with exhibitions Reality (2006) and The Promised Land
(2010) giving even greater exposure to his work, not least the
giant portrait of Ray Winstone, The Flag Bearer, which was used to
conceal work at The Halcyon Gallery.
Video installations and monochrome photography prints
are an exploration of other forms of new media for the artist,
offering another view of what constitutes an icon. Rapture Raptor
sees the use of the Twitter logo and colour take form as wings. "I
wanted to make it into a more classical image, an Icarus kind of
image, mixing words, social media. She is a social creature,
phonetic thing, wanting to be looked at, wanting to be adored. Not
only fame, but an obsession with status." There are people with
twitter accounts with only a few followers, yet thousands or
irrelevant tweets or status updates, "who is it that they are
talking to? A lot of celebrities fall foul of twitter when posting
something inflammatory, often removing and apologising for tweets
later on." In this day, when a comment can explode and be shared by
millions within minutes, you cannot escape. The clipped Twitter
wings are taken further in The Final Word, a packed figurative
piece hinting at the persecution and imprisonment of social media,
all to the march of beating drums and megaphones.
The portrait of singer-songwriter Bob Geldof, almost
seems haunting, covered as he is by large rats, some climbing up
his chest, others nuzzling at his shoulders and neck, with the
frayed fabric of his blue suit torn in places by the razor
sharp teeth. You immediately think of his band, the Boomtown Rats,
but then try to pair the controversial imagery with the
humanitarian works Geldof is widely known for. Seemingly at odds,
the portrait hints at morality and the balance of good and evil
we
face on a daily basis. It is through such emotive
reactions, that the work questions the sense of self, patriotism,
responsibility and consumerism, with the likes of Bob Geldof, Kiera
Knightly and Ray Winstone used to hammer home uncomfortable
political, social and cultural messages. It is this identification
we are exploring and in doing so, Griffiths unearths the moral
codes of society we may often shun, hide away from or only touch
the painted surface of.