Renowned for his off-beat takes on sensitive subject matter, Manila-based Australian artist David Griggs mounts his debut solo show in Singapore. The exhibition is the first multi-artform presentation to feature all aspects of Griggs’ practice: painting, photography, installation and video. Frustrated Poverty Porn Bubble Gang offers a carnivalesque entrée to the artist’s unique, often macabre perspective on contemporary popular culture. The exhibition’s title alludes to a famous Filipino TV comedy called Bubble Gang.

Griggs’s artistic practice has been richly informed by his years spent living and working in Manila. In his work, global and local pop cultures are intertwined with street and gang aesthetics, infused with a dark satire. Behind his mischievous brushstrokes lies a critique of the representation of poverty in the Philippines and its exoticisation by the media, in particular the film industry. His works portray an amalgam of local identity through the twisted lens of an exploitative spectacle.

-Future Perfect

Image: © David Griggs
Courtesy of the artist and Future Perfect