Tag: Charles Ray

Charles Ray at Matthew Marks Gallery

In a gallery titled ‘the repair annex,’ two new sculptures by Charles Ray depict mechanics absorbed in their work.  A man squats in a pose reminiscent of Ray’s own kneeling self-portrait from a few years back but also suggesting supplication or rapt attention to a task.  Ray’s meticulous renderings, here in painted steel, can take years to realize and the attention to detail and smooth finish give the piece an elegance and preciousness that connect this subject less to an autobody shop and more to an art history of heroic bodies.  (On view at Matthew Marks Gallery‘s 526 West 22nd Street location in Chelsea through June 16th).

Charles Ray, Mechanic 1 and Mechanic 2 (detail), painted steel, mechanic 2: 21 x 14 ½ x 18 ¾ inches, 2018.

Charles Ray at Matthew Marks Gallery

More than many vehicles, pick-up trucks seem loaded with sentimental value. Alone in Matthew Marks Gallery’s large 24th Street gallery, this machine-carved, solid stainless steel replica of a baled truck by Charles Ray feels like a monument to a memory. Ray’s exacting sculptural process – involving model making and scanning – took six years, giving the sculpture even more import. (Through April 18th).

Charles Ray, Baled Truck, solid stainless steel, 33 x 50 x 118 inches, 2014.

Charles Ray at The New Museum

The premise is simple in Charles Ray’s iconic 1992-3 ‘Family Romance’ sculpture  – reduce a nuclear family to the height of its youngest member – but the resulting sculpture is disturbingly complex as it breaks taboos against nudity in the family and renders children in a decidedly uncute way.  It’s a standout in the New Museum’s provocative ‘NYC 1993’ show, featuring groundbreaking work created in/around 1993.  (Through May 27th).  

Charles Ray, Family Romance, painted fiberglass and synthetic hair, 1992-93.

Charles Ray at Matthew Marks Gallery

Charles Ray, Shoe Tie, solid stainless steel, 2012.
Charles Ray, Shoe Tie, solid stainless steel, 2012.

Charles Ray’s sculptural self-portrait is stunningly perfect – his body has the unflawed, fluid shine of poured mercury – and relentlessly banal – he sports an everyman physique and needs to tie a shoelace.  This first impression holds true to the man vs machine process he used to create the sculpture: a digital drawing is recreated as a clay sculpture which becomes the model for a computer controlled machine that sculpts the sculpture from a solid piece of steel. (At Matthew Marks Gallery on 22nd Street through Jan 12.)