VACUUM BAIT :: Joe Griffith

3.17.17

Main Gallery

VACUUM BAIT presents new drawings, paintings, objects, and sculptures by Joe Griffith. Inspired by the technological tragedy of the space race, Griffith’s solo exhibition consists of would be odes to these events. Through visual poems, he examines the tragic and mysterious deaths of Amelia Earhart, Elizabeth Short, and the three astronauts who perished in the Apollo 1 mission, Virgil Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee.

Born in Tampa in 1969, Griffith has a long history of activism and culture building in the Bay area. He studied and received his BFA at Parsons/New School for Social Research NYC. Since the mid-1990s he has been involved in developing platforms for art projects to enter the social sphere. He co-founded the artist collaborative group Experimental Skeleton, Inc. in 1997. From 2004-2009 he spearheaded Flight 19, a gallery at Tampa's Union Train Station that was a partnership between the City of Tampa and Experimental Skeleton. A 2004 recipient of the Rauschenberg Grant, Griffith has worked on fabrication projects for numerous artists and designers including Yoko Ono, Keith Edmier, and Negativland, as well as commercial projects for theme parks and other public agencies from the early 1990s to the present day, including the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Orlando.