Discover the rich and expansive collection of artwork amassed by Ray Graham, a lifelong art advocate and collector, at the Amarillo Museum of Art. On view through March 24, 2024.
The Collecting Eye of Ray Graham
on view through March 24, 2024
Amarillo Museum of Art
Ray Graham is more than a collector of artworks. His longstanding and generous support of visual art has positively impacted artists and arts organizations throughout the country. It was as an anthropology student at the University of New Mexico that Graham befriended and began to support artists who were beginning their careers. As a result, many of the artists in the Graham collection live, or have lived, in proximity to his hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico. The artworks in this exhibition reflect Graham’s curiosity and continuing commitment to supporting emerging artists, artists from within his community, and artists who may be underrecognized in their time.
Photography has been an important part of Graham’s collection. Included in this exhibition are photographs by John Gossage, who Graham commissioned to document the activist Charles Hyder when he left Albuquerque to fast in Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House, for the cause of nuclear disarmament. Meggan Gould’s installation of anthotypes titled Corporate Time/Doomsday Time, as well as large-format Polaroid prints by collaborators Patrick Nagatani and Andrea Tracey, address similar concerns about nuclear proliferation. Several photographs by Meridel Rubenstein are also on view, including toned gelatin silver prints from the Low Riders series.
Graham often supported artists over long periods of time. The exhibition includes multiple examples of work by these artists, including Richard Hogan, Allan Graham, William Masterson, Russell Adams, Terry Conway, Jerry West, and Ron Cooper, among many others. More recent additions to the Graham collection are included in the exhibition as well, by artists James Hart, Alyssa Eble, Esther Elia, Colin Smith, Jill Christian, and Lisa Dahl.
Although this exhibition is comprised primarily of artworks from Graham’s collection, it also includes artworks by artists that Graham has more recently befriended and wished to include alongside his collection. Bill Jehle, Kim Arthun, Michael K. Bisbee, Benjamin McVey, and Mel Ziegler each have multiple artworks on view in the exhibition.
Visitors to the exhibition will find a visually diverse array of artworks ranging from relatively small-scale objects by artists Stuart Arends and Ross Rudel to large paintings by Richard Thompson and Charles Field. Sculptures by David Anderson, Patrick Simpson, and Jason Knapp are included along with mixed-media works by Merry Scully, prints by Edward Ruscha, a drawing by Dennis Oppenheim, and an oil pastel by Ike Morgan. Other artists whose work is on view include Heather Bingham, Gregory Botts, David Bower, John Cliett, James Cogswell, Dirk De Bruyker, Michael Eastman, Jacques Flechemuller, Thomas Freund, Lee Hill, Lester Johnson, Matt Jones, Mark Kerckoff, David Koch, Rose Mary Mack, Adrian A. Martinez, Mary Mattingly, Sharret Rose, Robin Smith, Susanna Tanger, Cara Tomlinson, Peter Voshefski, and Josie Williams.
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