Press

 

Heritage Auctions Pride Month profile

REMOVE YOUR MASK, Solos show with Ro2 Arts,

"Still the question persists. What are the identities behind those masks? For me, to remove one’s mask is to reveal the true individualism that has been gradually etched away by the promises of American grandiosity and the form of normality, in the name of individualism. Ironically, the physical masks are the prerequisite of removal of social masks, thus channeling viewers into the mental world of the unknown sitters. With these masks, we truly see these individuals."

"The controversial subject matter is softened by the hue-rich decor, giving an overall balance rarely seen in a gallery show. Griffin's work is strong. His use of color, technique and installation combine to create work that is a must see."

 

"Griffin’s superheroes feature men in costume, but the body types are more round than robust and the expressions are more haunting than handsome. Griffin has observed that people often have different personalities, which vary based upon situation. His oil paintings take this belief and throw in a twist of irony and humor. "

 

No Dead Artist show with Jonathan Ferrara Gallery, 

“transforming an accessory of a more staid and predictable epoch into something vaguely fetishistic, borderline sinister and inexplicably sensational. Those verboten borderlands between popular culture and the fetishistic recesses of the collective unconscious are explored in the deeply ironic and humorously creepy paintings of T. J. Griffin, whose anti-heroic loners indulge their private fantasies while wearing the garb of old time comic book superheroes. Their form fitting costumes and satin capes look limp and lumpy on their bulbous, out of shape bodies, and yet they are iconic figures in an age that is both more public and more private than any previous time.”

 

MAC Membership show, Review on DallasArtsReview

"Another bearded face, this time neatly shaven and kempt, but shoulders slumped and a sense of defeat shouting from his eyes, drooped jowl, the bland green mask and everything we see and think of as a wrestler of the losing kind. It's human, nearly naked, so even more vulnerable, yet masked, without a chance or trace of victory."

 

MAC Membership show