Where We Are (Are We?)
Griffonage Studios lives on in a state of suspended animation. Actively working on individual projects, we also continue to seek a redefined form and format. Art activities continue in a variety of venues, although formal reorganization continues to be elusive. Thoughts, ideas and proposals are always encouraged. Email us if you are so inclined.

No Roots
A studio and an exhibit space disconnected to local culture.

Upon examination, it appears that most of the artwork currently being done and or shown in Tucson Arizona (USA) looks and acts very much according to trend. Form follows mainstream contemporary art. Form is studied imitation. Form follows what sells. Form follows urban art’s popularity. And then there are the endless gift shop artisan items which are exhibited in so called galleries; objects done repetitively in the predictable southwestern style, where the symbols of the Mexican southwest and the American Indian cipher have been reproduced into insignificance.

What does local, authentic artwork in Southern Arizona look like? It seems to look like the ersatz of that which sells and/or gains global contemporary critical approval. Truly this town has become the land of smoke and mirrors.

Tucson has become a sprawling, unplanned town covered with cookie cutter subdivisions and over populated by refugees from everywhere else. It lacks persona; seemingly too afraid to be itself. Even the best places reside uncomfortably in strip malls. Aesthetic concern and planning seem to be afterthoughts, where they are taken into consideration at all. Like so many southern California cities this once distinctive desert town is now decentralized, has lost its’ personality to mega developers, chain stores and restaurants. Even the Mexican and American Indian cultures seem highly exploited and anglicized.

What is the future of my studio, my work, my Griffonage?

As we continue to wander and examine so many locations around the world, the same thoughts and questions return to our conversations repeatedly. The challenges continue to present themselves to us time and time again.

Perhaps a mobile studio; what would it look like? Perhaps a movable exhibit venue? How would that operate? Perhaps like a cyber entity? Ah the process of examination, of continuous reinvention.

A studio and an exhibit space disconnected to local culture; very much like most of modern American culture.