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    Rex Ray
    Rex Ray
    Rex Ray
    Ebook282 pages36 minutes

    Rex Ray

    By Griff Williams, Rebecca Solnit and Christian Frock

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    About this ebook

    Rex Ray celebrates life, work, and legacy of iconic San Francisco fine artist Rex Ray (1956–2015).

    This comprehensive volume features more than 100 of his works on canvas, wood, and paper—including never-before-seen pieces courtesy of the Rex Ray estate. His playful painted-paper-collages and organic, abstract forms have earned him comparisons to artists like Paul Klee and Henri Matisse.

    • Essays by celebrated writer Rebecca Solnit, art critic Christian Frock, and Ray's gallerist and friend Griff Williams
    • Ray's collages and paintings are both playful and geometric.
    • This vibrant book pays tribute to Ray's life and work.

    Rex Ray was a successful and prolific fine artist whose art has been shown at major museums and galleries throughout the United States. Now, longtime collectors and new fans alike can revel in the beauty of Ray's inimitable body of work.

    Ray's exuberantly colorful paintings and collages are a testament to the prolific artist's joy in the creative process.

    • This fine art monograph is perfect for Ray's fans and collectors, as well as those discovering the power and beauty of his work for the first time.
    • A perfect book for lovers of pop art and modern design, museumgoers, fine art fans, artists, designers, and those interested in the San Francisco art scene and local history
    • Great for those who loved Rex Ray: We Are All Made of Light by Griff Williams, Kevin Killa, and Rene Paul Barilleaux; House Industries: The Process Is the Inspiration by House Industries; and Barry McGee by Aaron Rose and Barry McGee
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherChronicle Books Digital
    Release dateMar 3, 2020
    ISBN9781452177045
    Rex Ray
    Author

    Griff Williams

    Griff Williams is an artist, educator, and the founder of Gallery 16 in San Francisco.

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      Book preview

      Rex Ray - Griff Williams

      YOU TOO ARE FOREVER

      GRIFF WILLIAMS

      IN THE LATE 1980S,

      San Francisco was a place of profound devastation. The AIDS epidemic, an economic recession, and the Loma Prieta earthquake had all hit the city hard. The life-affirming exuberance of Rex Ray’s artwork was born against this anguished backdrop. It materialized from his home in a grief-stricken community who saw a world epidemic unfold before its eyes—his art was an antidote to the terrible loss of life around him. The optimism that radiates from his images formed a buttress against self-pity. And in his blooming floral motifs we see a symbol of lives unshrinking in the face of terrible adversity.

      For all of the turmoil of that time, San Francisco was also affordable, welcoming, and encouraging—fostering self-expression of nearly every kind. Rex Ray was becoming a star in the art and design world thanks to his ubiquitous graphic design practice. His one-man design studio was in high demand, particularly with the music industry. He designed more than a hundred historic Bill Graham Presents tour posters for bands such as the Rolling Stones, Patti Smith, REM, Björk, Iggy Pop, U2, and Radiohead—a perfect creative outlet, at first, for someone with his own deep appreciation for music. But his most coveted and pivotal client was David Bowie. Beginning in 1995, Ray designed Bowie albums and posters, and collaborated with Bowie on a series of exquisite-corpse artworks. He recalled, Long before we met, I was a huge Bowie fan when I lived in the repressed suburbs of Colorado in the 1970s. I was fascinated not only by his music, but by his use of personae. He made it OK to be gay. It was also by admiring Bowie’s album covers that I began to aspire toward art and design. I used to buy 45s and then make my own little Xerox picture sleeves for them, cutting and pasting my own photos and incorporating them into the designs. So, imagine my surprise at having the opportunity to work so closely with him some 25 years later. However, once that collaboration began, I thought it would never get as good as this, and it certainly wouldn’t last forever, so I began working my way out of graphic design and into fine art.

      But by the mid-1990s, Ray—like many who toil before a computer screen—began to covet the analog. Fatigued with the digital and feeling a sense of rebellion against his corporate success, Ray created an outpouring of artwork using the simplest of tools: scissors and glue. "As my graphic design business grew, my clients got bigger, and the money they offered rose in direct proportion to the decline in creativity they required. The collages were my rebellion against that. I wanted to do something juvenile, mindless, and rudimentarily creative. Not for anyone else. Not for exhibit. Just for my own pleasure and to surprise myself. So that I could get back to that magic of making something out of nothing. I began by turning off the computers, unplugging the phones, and drinking a glass of wine or smoking a little pot. Then I’d sit down and crank out collages. I’d do them to silence that internal critic we all have—the inner voice that judges, raves, and berates us. It was a discipline. Sometimes, I’d intentionally do things poorly and let them get to a finished state, knowing they were bad. Sometimes the nights when I didn’t feel like doing them was when I did my best work. Either way, I’d put them in a box the next day and not look at them again. When I finally opened up all of the boxes months later, I put the collages up in a giant grid. I

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