VISUAL ARTS + MUSEUMS

The lone star state has always been fertile ground for the colorful, and thus it has been for its artists. Dick Wray (1933 – 2011), a native Houstonian, lived and prospered as an artist in Texas. He is one who can claim to be, along with the art he produced, an original “piece of work”. He stormed across the Texas scene, living out an artful life with zest and bravura. His passion for painting was, and is, still evident. The energetic and expressive canvases which he has left behind roil in their thick paint and exude spectra of colors unparalleled in his own time. This exhibition, Explosive Color/Dynamic Paint, celebrates the robust style and splendid paintings of this unique artist - the indomitable, Dick Wray.

As a gallery concentrating on Texas art of historical significance, William Reaves Fine Art is honored to show these remarkable works. Through this exhibition we are pleased to reintroduce Dick Wray to the greater Texas art scene, and we believe that the 50 paintings shown here will only serve to underscore the artist’s status as a master Texas modernist.

As a means of re-acquainting our patrons with the man and his art, we take pride in publishing an exhibition catalogue in conjunction with this show, in which we have invited testaments from a few friends and colleagues who knew Dick Wray and his art work most intimately. These writers include Wray’s fellow Houston artist and colleague, Richard Stout; his principal collector and patron, Earl Weed; as well as art historians Bill Camfield, Professor Emeritus at Rice University; and Katie Edwards, Assistant Professor at Baylor University. The collection of authors alone, speaks volumes about the stature and influence of Wray’s work and their statements offer rich and poignant insights into the art and personality of this remarkable artist.

Wray was known for his enigmatic personality and renowned for his creative energies and highly original painting style, which features dramatic colors and a dynamic use of paint.

“His work is decisive, rough and tender at the same time. He painted each painting to win, much as a poker hand. He was driven by the act of painting.” –Richard Stout

“In sixty years as an artist, Wray’s art and personal life had dark and light spells. But overall his body of art is vast, consistently inspiring and occasionally sublime….just like Texas.” –Katie Edwards

“In the broad gestures and the muscular impasto we can see and feel the breadth and the openness of the space in these places. And in the color, we can breathe in the life.” –Earl Weed

“Dick Wray, painter plenipotentiary, was a force – big in stature and appetites; challenging, irreverent, extravagant, and unkempt; alluring and off putting; addicted to painting, and at one with his art.” –Bill Camfield

We hope that you will take time to encounter these magnificent paintings, confronting them critically as the artist would insist, but keeping eyes and mind open to the wonders which are wrought through the explosive color and dynamic paint of Dick Wray.

Exhibition is on view January 6 – February 4, 2012.