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Ray SmithCartas de Japon by Ray Smith surreal Dali esque print Japanese portfolio 1988-89
1988-89
About the Item
Ray Smith's aptitude for the surreal is apparent in this portfolio of six drypoint prints, presented in a portfolio case. Each image depicts an intriguing, fantastic landscape populated with chimeric nudes. Each one is carefully printed to appear as if doodled on lined notebook paper with ballpoint pen: Japanese letter paper chine-colle on Kizuki Hosho paper. Translated as "Letters from Japan," Cartas de Japon plays on tropes of an exotic, faraway land. The series of prints perhaps pictures Japan in the imagination of westerners, who for centuries speculated that those from other continents had wildly different bodies and customs. The title may be a reference to iconic Mexican director Carlos Velo's 1973 film Letters from Japan.
Cartas del Japon, 1988-89
Portfolio of 6 drypoint prints printed on Japanese letter paper mounted on Kizuki Hosho paper
Plate 6 x 7.8 in. Paper 18 x 23.4 in. Ed. 30 with three artist proofs.
Printed by Hideharu Mishio, Norimasa Mizutani, and Marie Okada at Woodblock Workshop. Published by AC&T CORPORATION, Tokyo, 1989.
Per the Broad: "Ray Smith’s paintings incorporate surrealistic and animistic tendencies informed by his Latin heritage as well as deep study of the history of modern art. Smith was born near the Texas/Mexico border to a Mexican mother and American father. He has been labeled a neo-surrealist, a neo-expressionist, or even a magical realist, but Smith’s work is hard to place. Employing folk tales, popular imagery, and satirical historical criticism, his paintings are not reducible to any one allegory. Mexico, and its particular blend of politics and Eros, however, is the root of Smith’s practice."
- Creator:Ray Smith (1959, American, Mexican)
- Creation Year:1988-89
- Dimensions:Height: 18 in (45.72 cm)Width: 25 in (63.5 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:In excellent condition having been stored in our flat files since its publication.
- Gallery Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1211212128552
Ray Smith
Ray Smith is a contemporary artist who combines the techniques of print- and collage-making with a Cubist aesthetic in his unique signature compositions. His abstract paintings and sculptures can often be classified as Surrealist for their otherworldly qualities. Smith uses anthropomorphism and visual juxtaposition to jar the viewer and give his creations a magically alien quality.
Smith was born in Texas in 1959 but grew up in Central Mexico. He attended art school in both countries before settling in Cuernavaca, Mexico; he also regularly traveled to New York. He held his first solo exhibitions in Mexico at the Instituto Mexicano Norteamericano de Relaciones Culturales in 1979 and in New York at Tower Gallery in 1984.
Smith’s work grew in prestige and popularity over the years for its exuberant style and cross-cultural sensibilities. He drew as much from famed European artists like Pablo Picasso as from the traditional Mexican muralists, exploring themes such as birth, family, culture, war, politics and death. By 1989, Smith was participating in the Whitney Biennial in New York City.
Smith has continued to exhibit his work in the United States and Mexico. His paintings are in the collections of the Brooklyn Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Centro Cultural de Arte Contemporáneo in Mexico City.
In 2019, Smith held a “Celebrating 10 Years of Ray Smith Studio” exhibition at his studio in Brooklyn, New York. Today, he splits his time between New York and Cuernavaca, Mexico.
On 1stDibs, find Ray Smith’s paintings, sculptures and other art.
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