Permanent Art Collection

SEE CANDY: M&M’s

Jonathan Lewis | New York

Arts New York Jonathan Lewis MMs painting
Arts New York Jonathan Lewis MMs painting

Location: 250 Vesey Street, New York, NY 10281

This artwork is not open to the public

About the work

SEE CANDY series was inspired by Lewis’s immigration to the USA, when an unfamiliarity with American brands turned a simple trip to the grocery store into an extended voyage of discovery. He eventually narrowed his focus to the candy aisle, which supplied for him a quintessentially American aesthetic. The shiny surfaces, energetic colors, and ebullient typography highlighted the contrast between the culture that he had left behind and the brave new world that he was now entering. Adding to that distant memories of childhood treats, the series made for a surprisingly complex body of work that stimulates both the heart and the mind, and transcends the personal nature of its origin.

SEE CANDY: M&M’s, Candy Wrapper Series, 2001

Medium: Pigmented inkjet on watercolor paper

Dimensions: 33″ x 33″

About Jonathan Lewis

Jonathan Lewis is a London-based photographer who received his BA in Art History from Cambridge University in 1993 and a Certificate in Professional Photographic Practice from the London College of Printing in 1997. Lewis’ work explores ideas of production and consumption in a playful manner.