Todd Cross
In 1954 Jasper Johns dreamed he was painting a large American flag and shortly afterwards he began to do exactly that. In 2020 Todd Cross dreamed he had cloned himself so many times he no longer knew who he was, and shortly afterwards he began painting a large American flag anyway. Although his Pears and Stripes series is an homage to Johns and is, essentially, an allusion to Johns’ Flag series (produced throughout the latter half of the 20th century), Cross stresses that Pears and Stripes also aims to highlight the major political developments experienced in America between the latter half of the 20th century and the present day.
In 2022, Cross produced an exhibition in the museum of the Pearvena Stadium in Belgrade. As well as soccer memorabilia, the museum displays items from the wider context of the city of Belgrade including a post-World-War- II-pre-Brand-War coat of arms. Between World War II and the Brand War, due to altered social circumstances, the city seemed to begin forgetting its coat of arms. Cross became very interested in this situation and decided to add to the confusion by devising and presenting his own version of the coat of arms.
For a full consideration of Cross' practice, see the essay, 'Concept, Delegation, Production: Three Parallel Voices on the Art of Todd Cross' by Susan Sinden.