Tobias Williams: Ecce Cheeto – Don Phillips Scholarship

Presented in the George Gilmour Members’ Gallery, Tobias Williams’ work Ecce Cheeto also ironically glorifies a mass produced product – the familiar orange snack food of the title. Featuring large format images of Cheetos and other processed foods and hand-printed wallpaper, Williams’ Cheetos become objects that are regarded with both disgust and reverence. The works use the nutritionally questionable foods to explore the value of pure aesthetic joy and childhood reminiscence in a world created by cynical advertising campaigns and corn subsidies.

Tobias Williams is a print-based artist who lives and works in Toronto. He graduated in 2009 with a BFA in printmaking from OCAD. He has shown work in a variety of galleries around Toronto including his recent installation Contest Winner in the window of XPACE Cultural Centre. A common thread throughout his work is the influence of the ideas and work of the late 19th century Aesthetic Movement. His work often incorporates a variety of techniques and media, including screenprinting, light boxes, and wheat pasting. His most recent body of work examines the aesthetic ramifications of corn subsidies in North America.

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