Ray Smith

Brownsville (USA), 1959

Lives and works in New York, USA, and Cuernavaca, Mexico.

Ray Smith’s work emerged in the 80s and, from a collaborative and inclusive approach, is characterized by exuberant paintings and sculptures that blend magical realism, surrealism and avant-garde art.

His style and themes reflect a cultural heritage from the United States and Mexico. At first, he trained in fresco painting with traditional Mexican professionals, also receiving influences from Picasso, surrealists and Mexican political muralism.

Recurrently, we find in Ray Smith’s canvases contorted human figures, as well as images of dogs and other anthropomorphized animals, along with fantastic hybrid beasts, partly human, partly animal. Through these varied beings and other images of distorted objects, Ray Smith shows the complexity and absurdity of society, family, politics, culture, war and the human condition itself.