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Todd Gray — IPTKM #1
Todd Gray

IPTKM #1

2017

IPTKM #1 distills a charged personal history into a deceptively quiet pairing of two archival pigment prints, housed within found antique frames that lend the work an air of rescued memory. The title is an abbreviation for "Iggy Pop Tried to Kill Me," rooting the piece in a near-death experience Todd Gray lived through during the mid-1970s, when he shared a residence with Jim Osterberg, known to the world as Iggy Pop, on Wonderland Avenue in Laurel Canyon. Both photographs were taken by Gray himself, one capturing a dog and the other depicting his then-roommate, and together they invoke the raw, feral energy of the Stooges' 1969 anthem "I Wanna Be Your Dog" without ever announcing the reference outright. Gray's practice has long situated autobiography within broader questions of cultural encounter and image-making, and this work exemplifies the compressed power of that approach. The juxtaposition asks viewers to hold multiple registers at once, tenderness and threat, the domestic and the mythological, documentary snapshot and art historical object. The antique frames are not merely presentational choices but are themselves materials, layering the work with a sense of time that predates and outlasts the moment of capture. At 58.4 by 35.6 centimeters and measuring under four centimeters in depth, the piece carries an intimate scale that rewards close looking, rewarding the collector who understands that the most concentrated histories often occupy the smallest rooms. This is a unique work, signed by the artist, and offered through LAXART.

Medium
Archival pigment prints, found antique frames
Overall
Signed
Yes

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About this work

Todd Gray, IPTKM #1, 2017

IPTKM #1 distills a charged personal history into a deceptively quiet pairing of two archival pigment prints, housed within found antique frames that lend the work an air of rescued memory. The title is an abbreviation for "Iggy Pop Tried to Kill Me," rooting the piece in a near-death experience Todd Gray lived through during the mid-1970s, when he shared a residence with Jim Osterberg, known to the world as Iggy Pop, on Wonderland Avenue in Laurel Canyon. Both photographs were taken by Gray himself, one capturing a dog and the other depicting his then-roommate, and together they invoke the raw, feral energy of the Stooges' 1969 anthem "I Wanna Be Your Dog" without ever announcing the reference outright. Gray's practice has long situated autobiography within broader questions of cultural encounter and image-making, and this work exemplifies the compressed power of that approach. The juxtaposition asks viewers to hold multiple registers at once, tenderness and threat, the domestic and the mythological, documentary snapshot and art historical object. The antique frames are not merely presentational choices but are themselves materials, layering the work with a sense of time that predates and outlasts the moment of capture. At 58.4 by 35.6 centimeters and measuring under four centimeters in depth, the piece carries an intimate scale that rewards close looking, rewarding the collector who understands that the most concentrated histories often occupy the smallest rooms. This is a unique work, signed by the artist, and offered through LAXART.

Medium
Archival pigment prints, found antique frames
Dimensions
overall: 58.4 x 35.6 x 3.8 cm
Year
2017
Signed
Hand-signed by the artist
Seen at
LAXART

Related themes

Mohn Art Collective

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