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
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
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
LEVI'S Original Vintage Advertising Poster 1971
Located in Chicago, IL
LEVI'S Authentic original vintage advertising poster Artist: Ida Van Bladel Condition: A/A- * Dimensions: 22 x 32.9 in. / 55.9 x 83.5 cm. Circa: 1971 Linen Backed There are a few ti...
Paper
$225Sale Price|35% Off
H 27 in W 18 in D 0.013 in
Original San Francisco Olympic Summer Games Poster, 2002 by Michael Schwab
By Michael Schwab
Located in San Francisco, CA
ABOUT An exceptional series of contemporary graphic design, aimed at bringing the Summer Olympic Games to the Bay Area in 2012. The Bridge to the Future original poster series from ...
Paper
$225Sale Price|35% Off
H 27 in W 18 in D 0.013 in
Original San Francisco Olympic Summer Games Poster, 2002 by Sharrie Brooks
Located in San Francisco, CA
ABOUT An exceptional series of contemporary graphic design, aimed at bringing the Summer Olympic Games to the Bay Area in 2012. The Bridge to the Future original poster series from...
Paper
Original Vintage Poster, Loto, by Savignac
By Bernard Villemot
Located in Melbourne, Victoria
A classic design by Villemot, this poster is advertising the brand of mineral water, ‘Contrex’. Contrexéville water was recognised as a Natural Mineral Water by the French Government...
Linen, Paper
$1,008
H 38.98 in W 26.38 in D 0.04 in
Original Vintage Poster Pamplona San Fermin 1953 Ferias Y Fiestas Festival Spain
Located in London, GB
Original vintage travel advertising poster for the 1953 San Fermin festival in Pamplona Spain on 6-20 July / Pamplona San Fermin de 1953 del 6 al 20 de Juli...
Paper
Original "Adshel" Poster for David Bowie Meltdown Tour, 2002
Located in Toronto, ON
Attention all David Bowie fans!...This large and rare 60" x 40" poster format was used in bus shelters, shopping malls and railway stations to promote the legendary Pop/Rock Star David Bowie's Meltdown Tour in 2002! It is in good original condition. FYI. My very first concert was David Bowie's Isolar Tour in 1976 promoting his station to station...
Paper
$2,240Sale Price|20% Off
H 18.9 in W 12.6 in D 0.04 in
Yves Saint Laurent 'LOVE 1997' Original Vintage Poster
By Yves Saint Laurent
Located in Melbourne, Victoria
Yves Saint Laurent 'LOVE 1997' Original Vintage Poster In 1970, Yves Saint Laurent designed the first in a series of greeting cards in poster form that he would send his friends, ...
Paper
$1,277
H 28.35 in W 18.9 in D 0.04 in
Original ntique World War One Home Front Poster USA Boys Do Your Duty WWI
By Westermann
Located in London, GB
Original antique World War One home front poster issued to encourage young boys to support the war effort - Boys Do Your Duty You can help big brother by buying thrift stamps Fill yo...
Paper
$1,600Sale Price|20% Off
H 66.93 in W 47.25 in D 0.04 in
Original Vintage Fashion Poster, 'Chanel' by Andy Warhol, 1997
By Andy Warhol
Located in Melbourne, Victoria
The poster is in excellent condition. In 1997, 10 years after the artists death, Chanel re-printed the Original Warhol Chanel images for an advertising campaign. The set of 4 coloure...
Paper
$739
H 38.98 in W 31.89 in D 0.04 in
Vintage Advertising Poster San Francisco Summer Festival Season Opera
Located in London, GB
Vintage advertising poster for Igor Stravinsky's opera The Rake's Progress performed by the San Francisco Opera Summer Festival Season 1982 featuring a great theatrical design by the...
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