rex ray at gallery16

On the evening of February 12th, we held an opening to congratulate Rex Ray on his upcoming solo show at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver. Visitors to Gallery 16 were treated to a special treat as Rex used the opportunity to complete paintings for the MCA in the gallery! Folks were able to witness the process Rex has developed to compose his unrelenting abstractions. He layers hand painted papers and cuts the biomorphic shapes freehand with an xacto blade.

[@lorih620]

Love finding videos of Rex Ray at work. Thanks!

[@elizabethbritodacunha6891]

Muito bom! Parabéns! Lembra nossa artista Beatriz Milhazes aqui do Brasil. ❤

[@sarabarbeau3241]

How come the blade cuts only the paper and not the canvas 🤔

[@itskorine]

I believe this is a layer of paper on (painted) wood board. I'd love to know what kind of paper it is though!

[@AmpuTeeHee]

I’ve been curious about this also and have been doing some reading up lately, and these big works are on linen (not on wood, like his “smaller” works …16x24, for example). I’ve read that he first stiffened the canvas with “rabbit skin sizing” followed by 5-6 coats of white primer. I’m assuming this keeps his cuts from going all the way through.
I’m still trying to figure out what he used to glue down and make his painted papers… whatever the paper is, it sure holds up to water! 🙃