Paradise Found: The Art of Rex Ray

By Tiana Finney, SFR intern

At Right: Rex Ray's

"

Alectoria"

San Francisco artist Rex Ray's botanically titled mixed-media works depict the kind of gardens you could only find in a parallel universe.  Globular forms loosely resembling bulbs, seed pods, leaves, flowers and stems seem to float in a surreal space. Ray's world of soft, teardrop-shaped bubble flora might be described as an abstracted, '60s-style Garden of Eden.  In other works, Ray creates images akin to mandala-like wheels, molecular cells, scattered lines and mosaic-like clusters that waver between indefinable hallucinations and idealistic imaginings.  Patterns are the basis of his work, but far from being merely decorative, the patterns are evocative.

Ray collages with hand-cut paper, which he has drawn, printed or painted himself.  He is well-known for his design work, having designed tour posters for numerous musicians from Eric Clapton and Pink Floyd to Nine Inch Nails and Pearl Jam.  He has also designed book covers and music packaging.  Recently, Ray illustrated the children's book,

10,000 Dresses,

about a boy who dreams of dresses and wants to be a girl.

At left: Rex Ray's Pink Floyd poster

Rex Ray—a pseudonym the artist derived from an appliance brand name—was born in Germany.  His family spent time in both America and Germany before Ray moved to Colorado Springs as a teen in 1969.  After attending the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs, Ray moved first to Los Angeles and then San Francisco.  Two jobs at record stores reaffirmed his strong passion for music.  It was work at City Lights Bookstore during Ray's time at the San Francisco Art Institute that gave him work in graphic design and introduced him to David Bowie, a musician who he has since done much design work for.  Ray faced his share of adversity, confronted with sometimes brutal critiques as an art student and later labeled by critics as being too design-oriented with a tendency to gravitate toward the visually pleasing—a criticism that could easily be taken as a compliment.

At right: Rex Ray's "Rosathoria"

This week, Santa Fe has reason to thank its lucky stars for two upcoming events, a lecture and an opening, that give the city a glimpse of Rex Ray's prolific art.

Santa Fe Reporter