Canadian painter Chris Woods explores commercialism and mass production in his exhibit, "McTopia - A Ten-Year Survey," at the Hatton Gallery in the Visual Arts Building this month. His images are found in publications chronicling the dominance of American franchise culture in Canada. Corey Drieth, coordinator for Critic & Artist Residency series, says that Woods' work has been used in commercial and noncommercial ways as record covers and in Adbusters Magazine.

Woods began to exhibit his figurative, photo-realist paintings in 1990. His painting "Angel's Revenge" is of a green Ford minivan whose driver has a horrified expression on his face and a McDonalds worker lies on the tarmac in front of it. A white, winged McDonalds drive-thru angel hovers over him.

"These images are funny and Chris means them to be funny. They are both funny and serious - he's talking about images pervasive in American culture," says CSU Art historian Linny Frickman regarding his paintings.

In "Fourth of July," a young man and woman holding a sparkler and American flag sit in front of a Polo Jeans Co. advertisement in a mall, almost as if honoring consumerism.

"President Cadillac" depicts Chris Woods posing almost like Bill Clinton would; the Cadillac symbol replaces the U.S. Presidential seal on his speaking podium.

Back-to-back paintings comprise "Billboard" which stands in the center of the gallery. One side is the view of a couple driving a minivan, the bustling city in the distant horizon through the rear window. The other side is the view from the backseat inside the car, the open road ahead of them. The driver holds a crystal ball.

Chris Wood's exhibit on the Hatton Gallery shows the artist's views of consumerism by placing deity-like features in unexpected places Woods says that the crystal ball held by the driver is the device whereby this couple sees their future. "They've managed to achieve what advertising has managed to sell them," says Woods. Frickman says the view from the backseat of the car is their fantasy of buying this car and driving into the wilderness, while the view from the front is the reality of looking through the windshield into a dense urban setting, what they don't want to see.

"I like advertising and popular culture as a subject for art because everybody knows what its about. Unless you live in a log cabin, you know what McDonalds is," Woods said.

Woods has become a heroic figure for the anti-corporate anarchists and activists who try to disrupt corporate dominance. He understands that advertising and corporate branding are about mythmaking and making things look natural or better than they really are.

The display is part of the Critic and Artist Residency Series which brings artists and critics to CSU to keep in touch with the contemporary art world.

Friday, at noon, Woods will give a gallery talk and there will be open discussion in the Hatton Gallery. Woods will be visiting studio art and art history classes as well.