The Practice Of Extroverted Painting With Ray Smith

04/16/21 • 70 min

Born in Brownsville Texas and raised in Mexico City, Ray Smith emerged as an important voice in the 1980’S post modern reinvention of painting in New York city, along with his friend Julian Schanbel. Ray is best known for his large segmented paintings, his elements of cubism and surrealism, and his work with Mexican muralists, with the use of anthropomorphic animals akin to his hero Pablo Piccaso. Ray refers to his subject matter this way... “They are Beasts, but they are directly attached to a blueprint of our own existence.” His works reflects upon the complexities and absurdities of society, family, culture, the human condition between birth and death. You can learn more about Ray Smith on his website raysmithstudio.com

Previous Episode

Plush Onus: The Artists David Humphrey And Jennifer Coates

Two powerful artists by themselves , the married couple love to mix it up including collaborating on paintings and sharing ideas about art and artmaking.

Established contemporary artists, they are both published writers and love to play music together. The interview reveals an expansive studio practice between their two homes, New York City and a country house in rural Pennsylvania.

The COVID outbreak impacted them immediately when Jennifer came down with the virus and was bed ridden for a month back in March. She talks of how she drew her way out of it with drawings from bed which later led to a whole series of large paintings.

David produced an astounding body of work for his show at Fredericks and Freiser in the fall with a Title surprisingly appropriate "Arms of the Law." He also completed an extensive monograph of his long career, "David Humphrey" edited by Davy Lauterbach.

You can learn more about them on their websites davidhumphreynyc.com and jenniferlcoates.com

Next Episode

Something About Mythology With Eileen Neff

Host Tom Judd speaks with Eileen Neff about how literature has influenced her work, including the poetry of Wallace Stevens.

Neff, a Philadelphia based artist, began as a painter until she discovered photography was the pathway to her expression as an artist in the early 80s. Known also as a sought after art critic and writer, she went on to develop an astounding body of work over a 40 year period.

You can learn more about her on her website eileenneff.com