Graham Goddard (born April 12, 1982) is a Trinidadian American conceptual artist known for making visual statements about the environment, spirituality and commodification through painting, sculpture and site-specific land art installations. Goddard's work has been exhibited at the Skirball Museum, the California African American Museum and numerous art galleries in the United States and abroad. Goddard is also the founder of All Public Art, a social media platform and mobile app for artists and art enthusiasts, which assists in the discovery of artwork in public spaces and provides a photo-sharing and e-commerce component for people to sell or purchase art related items.
Life and career
Early life
Graham Goddard was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad. In 1989, the Goddard’s moved from Woodbrook, Trinidad to Spring Valley, New York. As a child Goddard received training in watercolor painting from Rockland Center for the Arts and had his first solo exhibition in 1992 at the age of 10 at the Filkenstein Gallery in New York. As a child Goddard won numerous art contests including Coca-Cola's national art competition in 1995. In 1995 Graham Goddard was the youngest artist selected to attend the prestigious New York State Summer School of the Arts (NYSSSA) in Cazenovia, New York. Goddard attended Spring Valley High School, and painted a mural in the school's main hallway titled "Land of the Tiger;" the painting was filled with hidden imagery inspired by artist Bev Doolittle.
Graham Goddard studied Fine Arts at the University of Southern California (USC) (Class of 2004, BFA). At USC Goddard explored inverted imagery and developed the Rotating Canvas after being inspired by the paintings of 14th century Italian painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo. Goddard's Rotating Canvas allows the viewer to turn the painting 180 degrees, exposing inverted images within his work. He first introduced the concept in the exhibition "Flip" at the Helen Lindhurst Fine Arts Gallery in 2004.
Early work
In 2005 Goddard exhibited at numerous galleries and venues including Feinstein Art Gallery, JAMCAAR and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago Consulate of New York. In 2007 Goddard teamed up with fashion designer Karl Kani to develop a clothing line which fused art and fashion.
In 2008, Goddard's miniature painting series was exhibited at Sargent's Fine Art in Maui, Hawaii. Goddard also started exploring spirituality in his paintings and included references to the Bible in watercolor paintings such as "Almost Time," which explored his interest in faith and included his feelings of displacement as a Trinidadian in the United States. Goddard's collectors during this period included singer and actress Vanessa Williams, actress Regina King, actress Gabrielle Union, boxing champion Laila Ali and actress Ana Ortiz.
Museum Exhibitions
"Inside My Head"- California African American Museum
In May 2009 Graham Goddard was invited to exhibit in the California African American Museum's exhibition, "Inside My Head: Intuitive Artists of African Descent," curated by Mar Hollingsworth. The exhibition showcased works by 32 contemporary artists of African descent who have developed a mature style in an intuitive manner. Goddard exhibited the inverted watercolor and acrylic paintings "Legacy" and "God's Speed." The exhibit also featured Goddard's works "In the Smallest Places," "On the Precipice of Faith," and "Word Travels." The works incorporated Goddard's West Indian heritage and addressed America´s struggle with spirituality.
"An Idea Called Tomorrow"- The Skirball Museum & California African American Museum "An Idea Called Tomorrow" (November 19, 2009 - May 8, 2010) was a historical collaborative partnership between the California African American Museum (CAAM) and the Skirball Museum. Co-conceived by CAAM and the Skirball, the exhibition marked the first time in history that the institutions collaborated. The participating artists’ ethnicities and backgrounds were as diverse as their presentations, which addressed a broad range of social justice issues of both regional and global relevance, such as environmental sustainability, shelter for all, human equity, equal access and respect, healthy living, reconciliation and forgiveness, and cooperation and peace.
Graham Goddard was invited to exhibit his 50-foot site-specific installation "Paradigm" in front of the museum.