The Outside World Presents Great Biscuits by Zoe Griffiths 

Nice Biscuit Painted MDF

The Outside World Presents 'Great Biscuits' an exhibition by Zoe Griffiths

The Outside World Presents...
GREAT BISCUITS

An Exhibition by ZOE GRIFFITHS

Opening Thursday 4th December 6-9pm

The Outside World is pleased to present ‘Great Biscuits’, an exhibition by of painted reliefs by Zoe Griffiths.

Zoe Griffiths graduated in 1998 from London Guildhall
University. Since then she has exhibited extensively, in a variety of spaces, showing in galleries and other less conventional venues. Her most recent show in 2008 ‘Painting and Sculpture and Drawing’, with sculptor Peggy Atherton.

‘Great Biscuits’ is the first solo show that Zoe Griffiths has undertaken in recent years. In this show she presents through her engraved and painted images an iconic representation of the traditional British biscuit. With these images Griffiths is reassessing the traditional view of food through still life painting. It is a genre that often portrays in all its groaning glory, the opulence and social status of the table depicted. Griffiths ‘Great Biscuits’ portraits take us a stage further, as we follow her exploration of the notion that the appreciation of the British biscuit unites us all.

Griffiths writes:
“The British biscuit is a respected institution that has played a role in most of our lives since childhood. They remain a real constant, meaning a Bourbon biscuit gives us comfort in its timelessness. Some varieties have come and gone but there always remains a core of classic biscuits. Traversing the biscuit aisle is an art form in itself as you weigh up your own predilection, the preferences of others and where the biscuits will be eaten.”

She strips bare the ‘table’ of any idea of obscene over fed indulgence, to open up the biscuit packet and allow the viewer to focus on the simple form of each individual biscuit. In this sense Griffiths offers not a glossy idealized representation of her subject but a democratic view of the biscuit world where the bourbon holds equal place with the rich tea.

To create these reliefs is a laborious process, which involves Griffiths scoring into sheets of MDF, then cutting a line drawing of her chosen form. The engraved slab is then coated all over with a clear varnish, or painted in a single colour appropriate to the variety of biscuit it represents. The results are a series of paintings with a sculptural quality. Their appearance similar to that of a wood block, with their subtle engraved lines serving as the only detail.

C.A.Halpin 2008

The Outside World, 44 Redchurch Street London E2 7DP.
Tel: 07814 430 852
Nearest Tube Liverpool Street/ Old Street






http://www.theoutsideworld .co.uk