John Chiaverina spotlights Joe Ray for his upcoming solo booth at the Independent 20th Century fair in NYC, The editorial essay touches on Ray's proficient and ever-changing practice, as well as his drive as an artist.
"Joe Ray has forever had one eye at street level and another aimed towards the cosmos.
When the artist returned to Los Angeles in the late 1960s following a stint as an army paratrooper in Vietnam, he was thrust into the nexus of multiple art scenes whose influence continues to reverberate today. There was the Light and Space movement, a Southern California take on Minimalism within which Ray was one of the only Black practitioners, as well as the conceptual art community germinating around CalArts, where he was a member of the first graduating class. Later he joined Studio Z, a performance collective that included a young David Hammons, whose studio on Slauson Avenue served as a gathering point for the group.
In between all of these worlds is where you find the work of Ray. "I've always tried to be free in my approach to making art," says the 78-year-old Ray. "I've never wanted to get locked in, I've never wanted to produce the same thing over and over." For the debut edition of Independent 20th Century, Diane Rosenstein Gallery will present a selection of works spanning various decades, media, and approaches in the artist's practice."
