Rex Ray was an American artist best known for his innovative Pop aesthetic in fine and commercial art — on canvases, wood panels, album covers, paper, book jackets, murals, and rock and roll posters.
Born in Landstuhl, Germany in 1956, Michael Patterson was raised in Colorado Springs. Before moving to San Francisco in 1981, Patterson, inspired by Andy Warhol, adopted the moniker Rex Ray. He attended the San Francisco Art Institute where he studied with Sam Tchakalian, Kathy Acker, and Angela Davis, and received his BFA in 1989. He became a major force in the Bay Area’s art, literary, and activist communities.
Ray was one of the first artists to use Mac-based technologies in the creative process to generate art and graphics. His early designs include the first graphics for the San Francisco chapter of Act Up; many guerilla marketing flyers and posters for queer nightclubs; and numerous book covers for City Lights Books and HIGH RISK/Serpent’s Tail.
Ray's impressive client roster in the music, fashion, entertainment, and design industries, includes David Bowie, The Residents, Bill Graham Presents, DreamWorks, Levis, Neiman Marcus, Sony Music, Warner Brothers, and Apple. Rex Ray designs have been licensed and produced as distinctive imagery on scarves, carpets, ceramics, wristwatches, surfboards, and even on a Mini Cooper.
During his lifetime Rex Ray generated a prolific body of painting and works on paper. His technique involved a complicated process that combined Xerography, handmade woodblock prints, newsprint, and magazine images into vibrant color schemes with parabolic forms and abstract patterns. His works reference mid-century modernism, Dada, decorative arts, Fluxus, and Pop art deployments associated with Andy Warhol and continue to speak to ideas of beauty during eras known for post-modernist and Conceptual ideologies.
Ray’s work has been included in exhibitions at the Akron Art Museum, Berkeley Art Museum, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and more. Several books including Cut & Paste, Rex Ray: Art + Design, and Information feature images with writings about his career and artistic practice.
Find Rex Ray art on 1stDibs.
(Biography provided by Lucille Khornak Gallery)
$6,000
Pyzinerol
By Rex Ray
Located in Lyons, CO
Color lithograph, Edition 30 In 2010, Ray made his first lithographs at Shark’s Ink., Pyzinerol and Pyzinerol II. Ambitious prints with 18 colors from 15...
Lithograph
$6,250
Rex Ray
By Rex Ray
Located in San Francisco, CA
A lovely example of Rex Ray’s graphic collage style. Rex Ray (1956-2015) was an American graphic designer and artist based in San Francisco. His work is in mus...
Resin, Wood, Paper
$7,500
Untitled
By Rex Ray
Located in New York, NY
Rex Ray (American 1956-2015) "Untitled", Abstract Mixed Media on Wood, Signed Verso, 16 x 24, Early 21st Century, 2010 - Colors: Green, Yellow, Orange, Red, Pink, Black, Brown Rex Ray (Sept. 11, 1956—Feb. 9, 2015) was an American artist best known for his innovative pop aesthetic in fine and commercial art—on canvases, wood panels, album covers, paper, book jackets, murals, and rock and roll posters. Born in Landstuhl, Germany in 1956, Michael Patterson was raised in Colorado Springs. Before moving to San Francisco in 1981, Patterson, inspired by Andy Warhol, adopted the moniker Rex Ray. He attended the San Francisco Art Institute where he studied with Sam Tchakalian, Kathy Acker, and Angela Davis, and received his BFA in 1989. He became a major force in the Bay Area’s art, literary, and activist communities. Ray was one of the first artists to use Mac-based technologies in the creative process to generate art and graphics. His early designs include: the first graphics for the San Francisco chapter of Act Up; many guerilla marketing flyers and posters for queer nightclubs; and numerous book covers for City Lights Books and HIGH RISK/Serpent’s Tail. His impressive client roster in the music, fashion, entertainment, and design industries, includes David Bowie, The Residents, Bill Graham Presents, DreamWorks, Levis, Neiman Marcus, Sony Music, Warner Brothers, and Apple. Rex Ray designs have been licensed and produced as distinctive imagery on scarves, carpets, ceramics, wristwatches, surfboards, and even on a Mini...
Wood, Mixed Media
Mixed-Media and Resin Collage by Rex Ray
By Rex Ray
Located in San Francisco, CA
A lovely example of Rex Ray’s graphic collage style. Rex Ray (1956-2015) was an American graphic designer and artist based in San Francisco. His work is in mus...
Resin, Wood, Paper
Mixed-Media and Resign Collage by Rex Ray
By Rex Ray
Located in San Francisco, CA
A mixed-media and resign collage by Rex Ray, untitled. Signed by the artist, USA, circa 2004.
Resin, Wood, Paper
Mixed-Media and Resin Collage by Rex Ray
By Rex Ray
Located in San Francisco, CA
A mixed-media and resin collage by Rex Ray, signed by the artist. USA, 2004.
Resin, Wood, Paper
Mixed-Media and Resin Collage by Rex Ray
By Rex Ray
Located in San Francisco, CA
A mixed-media and resin collage by Rex Ray, untitled. Signed by the artist, USA, circa 2007.
Resin, Wood, Paper
$6,250
Rex Ray
By Rex Ray
Located in San Francisco, CA
A mixed media and resin collage by Rex Ray, signed by the artist. USA, 2006.
Resin, Wood, Paper
Mixed-Media and Resin Collage by Rex Ray
By Rex Ray
Located in San Francisco, CA
A mixed media and resin collage by Rex Ray, signed by the artist. USA, 2007.
Resin, Wood, Paper
1998 Beastie Boys - Portland Rose Garden Original Vintage Poster
By Rex Ray
Located in Winchester, GB
This beautiful vibrant poster is from the Beastie Boys concert at the Portland Rose Garden in 1998 with support from the likes of the great A Tribe Called Quest. The show saw the New...
Paper
1996 Oasis - San Francisco Original Vintage Poster
By Rex Ray
Located in Winchester, GB
This beautiful poster was created in 1996 to promote a live concert of Oasis at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. This tour marked the second attempt of the legendar...
Paper
Mixed-Media and Resin Collage by Rex Ray
By Rex Ray
Located in San Francisco, CA
A mixed-media and resin collage by Rex Ray, untitled. Signed by the artist, USA, circa 2007.
Resin, Wood, Paper
Mixed-Media and Resign Collage by Rex Ray
By Rex Ray
Located in San Francisco, CA
A mixed-media and resign collage by Rex Ray, untitled. Signed by the artist, USA, circa 2005.
Resin, Wood, Paper
1997 David Bowie - San Francisco Original Vintage Poster
By Rex Ray
Located in Winchester, GB
This brilliant poster is from David Bowie's 1997 concert at the Warfield Theatre in San Francisco, California. The show was in support of his album from the same year "Earthling" whi...
Paper
Mixed-Media and Resin Collage by Rex Ray
By Rex Ray
Located in San Francisco, CA
A mixed-media and resin collage by Rex Ray, signed by the artist. USA, 2007.
Resin, Wood, Paper
Act 1 Mixed Media Collage on Antique Gameboard
By Fay Sciarra
Located in Hopewell, NJ
Richly layered mixed media collage on antique game board having Shakespeare plays as its theme with bits of vintage texts from Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet, and more. The leather book bin...
Leather, Wood, Paper
$3,000
H 50 in W 38 in
Gigi: red black abstract print with poetry based on 1950s vintage movie poster
By Rene Ricard
Located in New York, NY
Touched by the influence of Andy Warhol, champion of a young Jean-Michel Basquiat, Rene Ricard served as enfant terrible of the 1980s New York art scene. This red and black lithograp...
Lithograph
$1,800
H 29.875 in W 22.875 in
"Untitled" lithograph on cardboard by Imi Knoebel from "Kinderstern" portfolio
By Imi Knoebel
Located in Boca Raton, FL
"Untitled" lithograph on cardboard of red "Star for Children" by artist Imi Knoebel from the "Kinderstern" portfolio, published in 1989 by Edition Domberger to raise money to house f...
Lithograph
$5,000Sale Price|28% Off
H 84 in W 96 in D 1 in
Vintage Roman Column 6 Panel Architectural Incised Privacy Screen Room Divider
Located in Wayne, NJ
Large decorative 6 Panel Architectural privacy screen room divider. Will go well with style decor . From Traditional to Modern. This is a heavy in weight piece. Many details are inc...
Brass
Julie Curtiss Woman In High Heels Print Contemporary Art
Located in Draper, UT
Title Julie Curtiss Woman In High Heels Small Edition Of Only 10 - 17 X 11 Pristine Condition Year 2019 Classification Limited edition Medium Type Print ...
Lithograph
$650
H 14.25 in W 11.25 in
GRAY AND BLACK ABSTRACT 2002 Signed Lithograph, John Ashbery Suite A WAVE Poem
By Will Barnet
Located in Union City, NJ
GRAY AND BLACK ABSTRACT by the American painter and printmaker Will Barnet is an original hand drawn lithograph, printed using hand lithography on archival printmaking paper 100% aci...
Lithograph
$800
H 10 in W 10 in D 0.4 in
Untitled limited edition signed abstract geometric print by renowned sculptor
By Keith Sonnier
Located in New York, NY
KEITH SONNIER Untitled, 1995 Letterpress on Sumerset Paper Edition 91/100 Signed and numbered in graphite from the edition of 100, recto Frame included Measurements: Sheet: 6 inches ...
Mixed Media, Pencil, Lithograph
Unique Reverso Room Divider by Draga & Aurel
By Draga & Aurel
Located in Geneve, CH
Unique Reverso room divider by Draga & Aurel Price for each piece. Please contact us Unique piece Dimensions: W 29 H 271 Materials: Resin, po...
Brass
Joy - Lithograph by Renzo Bussotti - 1963
By Renzo Bussotti
Located in Roma, IT
Joy is an original artwork realized by Renzo Bussotti in 1963. Hand-signed and dated in pencil on the lower right; numbered on the lower left. Edition of 60 prints. The artwork is f...
Lithograph
$275Sale Price|44% Off
H 20 in W 15 in
Rorschach - Original Colorful Mixed Media Textured Wood Wall Sculpture Artwork
By Rebecca Klundt
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This original geometric abstract wall sculpture by Rebecca Klundt is a 20 inch tall by 15 inch wide mixed media artwork, constructed from reclaimed wood and finished with acrylic pai...
Driftwood, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Wood Panel
"Brescia" Abstract Painting Collage
By Michael Pauker
Located in Soquel, CA
Abstract expressionist painting and collage by Bay Area artist Michael Pauker (American, b.1957). Titled and dated "Brescia 2014" on verso. Unsigned. From a collection of his work. F...
Wood, Mixed Media, Oil, Magazine Paper
$4,800
H 18.25 in W 13.5 in
Rippling, limited edition lithograph, Japanese, black, white, red, signed
By Toko Shinoda
Located in Santa Fe, NM
Rippling, limited edition lithograph, Japanese, black, white, red, signed,number
Lithograph
David Bowie and Nine Inch Nails Original US Concert Poster Proof, 1995
By Rex Ray
Located in Devon, GB
A rare uncut printer's proof poster by graphic designer and collage artist Rex Ray for a performance by David Bowie and Nine Inch Nails at the Shorelin...
Paper