Charles Ray

L'Almanach 14 : Charles Ray

Born in 1953 in Chicago, lives and works in Los Angeles.

Charles Ray has studied sculpture and art history, which has expanded his path with many references. He speaks most specifically of Anthony Caro, ‘’his work was like a model (...) a gap between the inside and the outside of [his] mind.’’ His works uses vastly different types of  materials, styles, scales and objects. At the end of the 1980s, he was interested in minimalism, using ink and thread on a regular basis. The artist has also produced hyper realistic works, in which he plays with scale: the represented object isn’t real and must remain an art production.

Charles Ray has made many smooth and white sculptures that recall classic Italian marble sculptures. Handheld Bird (2006), exhibited in L'Almanach 14, is made of stainless steel and represents a  bird embryo. This sculpture speaks of the  body, a fragile body. The artist has conducted preliminary studies with chicken embryos hatched from eggs. Various spaces are suggested; cabinets of curiosities, clinical analyses, the art space and a silent, reflective space. This artwork is both poetic and disturbing, like the artist's work.