One thing is for sure, Australian pop artist Ben Frost isn’t going to run out of his particular type of canvas any time soon. The more we buy, the more packaging we throw out, and the more we throw out, the more there is for Frost to pick up and use in his consumer commentary artwork. In his practice, trash is treasure; discarded packaging is the base onto which Frost applies a layer of snark in the form of found imagery, sometimes sympathetic, but often incongruous, humorous, sexually-charged.
Frost seems to have an inexhaustible hunger for McDonald’s fries; the red boxes are a favourite medium, and form a large part of the artist’s latest collection Supermarket Sweep. They are the perfect symbol of disposable, fast food culture, and are a handy shape and colour with which to make a sharply-observed point. A whole series of disillusioned, frightened and exploited faces stare out from the golden arched wrappers, succinctly criticising everything from worker’s pay and conditions through gender politics and lots and lots of sex. Others are just plain goofy, see: He Didn’t Care Much For Cereal. Brighton gallery No Walls is hosting from 2 August to 23 August.
Ben Frost
Chocolate Pocky
Ben Frost
Takeout
Ben Frost
Crosswords
Ben Frost
Frosted Cheerios
Ben Frost
Minimum Wage
Ben Frost
Strawberry Pocky
Ben Frost
He Didn’t Care Much For Cereal
Ben Frost
The Taste
Ben Frost
Giant Nugget
Ben Frost
Feeding Time
