Original Oil Painting. Pegasus, one of the most fantastical images in Greek mythology and also our contemporary culture “Mobil” image, is painted over a New York Times crossword puzzle in this multi dimensional piece. Also alluding to Franklin oil spill within this painting, Lim uses actual motor oil within the piece to create an extremely unique painting that is indeed a “Sign of the Times”

Artist Bio: Todd Lim

Freed from academia in 1989, Asian-born Lim took his exemplary painting and graphics talents back to his home base of Fairfield County, CT and began work as a freehand sign painter for Stew Leonard’s of Westport. Dubbed the world’s largest dairy store, it is quite an experience, populated with live animals, singing cows and trucks that “moo” when in reverse. As Lim explored the disciplined art of hand-drawing colorful, eye-catching store advertisements he also discovered a new path for himself. Because he disliked the thought of discarding the used posters (for both ego and eco reasons) Lim decided to incorporate the posters in his own new artistic endeavors.

With a nod to the pop art culture of the ‘60s, Lim is inspired by the eye-popping energy and colors of the packaging of some favorite foods we all know and love. No item is too mundane for his consideration, making such universal favorites as Heinz Ketchup, Hellmann’s, and Marshmallow Fluff the subject of complex visual layering. One of Lim’s most compelling series of works is the smile-evoking Tootsie POP series. Tootsie Pop labels of the well-known classic flavors are smile-evoking stars of his whimsical, yet artistically sophisticated series. It is a subject that Lim has taken through many permutations, including the last of the series, the “Currency Pops”, in which he elevates the innocent allure of the Tootsie Pop through the use of silver leaf and metallic paints. Another label riff, frosty silver and blue “Klondike”, is a minimal blow up that conjures its cool contents.

Engaging himself with the viewer, Todd Lim layers images that speak to us on many levels simultaneously. “Spam” spoofs on canned cuisine, and also nods to e-culture. Challenging us with social issues, Lim give us “White”, without guile speaking to race issues in America through the figure of a little girl. Painted during the last presidential campaign, other racial questions surface in “Kiwi”, featuring that mainstay of the well-polished American shoe. Todd prods us with questions, puns and riddles, letting us come to our own conclusions. In “The Pruf Is in the Pudding”, a series of paintings based on Jell-O boxes, Lim spirals excerpts from the T.S. Eliot poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”

Todd Lim is an accomplished artist whose works are exhibited in countless museums and galleries, and included in the permanent collections of such prestigious institutions as the Detroit Institute of Art, New York Public Library, Brown University, Portland Museum of Art and MIT Museum. Lim’s silkscreen in the Smithsonian’s permanent collection entitled “Yellow Race” can be seen on the Smithsonian’s web-site.