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)
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, signed by the artist. USA, 2007.
Resin, Wood, Paper
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 2005.
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
$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, untitled. Signed by the artist, USA, circa 2007.
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
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
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 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
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
The Stone Roses Original Vintage Concert Poster, Blackpool, 1989
Located in Devon, GB
A large and striking silkscreen concert poster for The Stone Roses' seminal gig at the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool, England, on Saturday 12th August 1989. Following the release of their eponymous debut album in May 1989, Manchester musicians Ian Brown...
Paper
$544Sale Price|20% Off
H 28.94 in W 18.71 in D 0.04 in
Original Vintage Poster by Bernard Buffet May 1958 Original Vintage Poster
By Bernard Buffet
Located in Melbourne, Victoria
Original vintage poster by Bernard Buffet May 1958.
Paper
$10,000 / item
H 70.87 in W 38.19 in D 16.93 in
Conogó Partition Screen in Hardwood, Brazilian Contemporary Design
By Noemi Saga Atelier
Located in Sao Paulo, BR
This contemporary styled partition screen or room divider is made of sucupira hardwood. Named the Conogó, this partition screen is art–furniture. The...
Wood
$4,600
H 39.8 in W 25.2 in D 0.1 in
FLY TWA SAN FRANCISCO Original Vintage Airline Travel Poster Constellation RARE
By David Klein
Located in Chicago, IL
FLY TWA - SAN FRANCISCO Authentic original vintage airline travel poster Condition: A- Dimensions: 25.2 x 39.8 in. / 64 x 101 cm. Circa: 1957 Linen Backed There are areas of restore...
Paper
Poodleiscious Mixed Media Collage with Vintage Lace & Wood
Located in Hopewell, NJ
"Poodleiscious" is a mixed media visual symphony, celebrating the fifi-ness of poodles everywhere. With vintage lace, sheet music, violin, charms, applique form antique handkerchief...
Wood, Paper
”Garden Of Evil” Original US Film Poster, 1954
Located in Stockholm, SE
Original US version of this Garden Of Evil film poster. Numbered on lower right hand corner, 54/268. Some minor ware as seen on last picture. Garden of Evil (1954) is a Western film, directed by Henry Hathaway, about three somewhat disreputable 19th century soldiers of fortune, played by Gary Cooper as an ex-lawman, Richard Widmark as a gambler, and Cameron Mitchell as a bounty hunter, who are randomly hired by a woman, portrayed by Susan Hayward...
Paper
$3,270
H 59.06 in W 39.38 in D 1.19 in
Painting "Different Dreams" 2018 Pastel Acrylic Canvas by Cecilia Setterdahl
By Cecilia Setterdahl
Located in Dubai, Dubai
About the painting “Different Dreams” Dreams can be in different shapes and in different colours . Some are in strong relief, some are soft and faded and can go deep in or up to t...
Canvas, Acrylic
$2,285
H 23.63 in W 15.75 in D 0.01 in
Les Lalanne Original Exhibition Poster "À Bagatelle" Hand-Signed, 1998
By Claude and Francois-Xavier Lalanne
Located in Benalmadena, ES
This exceptional original exhibition poster from the historic 1998 "Les Lalanne à Bagatelle" retrospective captures a definitive moment in 20th-century design history. The imagery im...
Paper
$4,000
H 39.2 in W 25.2 in D 0.1 in
UNITED AIR LINES - SAN FRANCISCO Original Vintage Airline Travel Poster
By Joseph Binder
Located in Chicago, IL
UNITED AIR LINES - SAN FRANCISCO Authentic original vintage midcentury airline travel poster Artist: Joseph Binder Condition: B+ Dimensions: 25 x 40.2 in. / 63.5 x 102 cm. Circa: 1957 Linen Backed The poster was folded twice vertically and horizontally; there are some extra creases along some of the fold lines; professional restoration has been performed to address fine surface paper loss along the fold lines and cross fold losses; this wonderful San Francisco travel poster...
Paper
$625
H 23.75 in W 29.75 in D 1.5 in
Vintage Mixed Media Abstract Sailboat Collage On Board, Newly Framed
Located in Miami, FL
A vintage abstract sailboat collage of assembled heavy laid papers by Victor Vi Cassenelli (America 1920-1990). The artist has created a boldly hued sailboat and sunset motif work ...
Wood, Paper
Matted Vintage Original "Boys of the City" East Side Kids Movie Poster
Located in Dekalb, IL
1940; Monogram Pictures Corp. - Hollywood, CA Incredibly hard-to-find original East Side Kids movie poster. The East Side Kids were a comedic troupe of adolescent boys who featured...
Linen, Paper
Official Original Roland Garros Tennis Poster, 1996
Located in Melbourne, Victoria
Official Original Roland Garros 1996 poster Condition Good Format Unlinen backed Dimensions 71 x 53 cm Artist Jean-Michel Meurice Year 1996
Paper
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