Donray
Encyclopedia
Donray is a contemporary American
artist
in the style of Post-Modern Expressionism
with elements of Surrealism
, Futurism
and Fauvism
.
He is known for metaphorical imagery exploring the dynamic nature of life and the human desire for spiritual
enlightenment and fulfillment.
Donray subjects include figures, objects and landscapes in motion, and methods include acrylic
on various media including Masonite
, paper, canvas, and drawings in charcoal, conte crayon, and color pastels. His works have been collected by a number of notable people and entities.
Donray might be best known for an innovative technique he uses in his acrylic works, a technique he has pioneered. It involves an acrylic-on-acrylic collage
created by the artist. The collage material is the same as that being used to paint with, and developed through a tedious process of mixing, pouring, manipulation and cutting. The result is a dramatic display of intermingling color, texture, depth, reflecting light and energy.
, July 29, 1945. He showed an interest in art at an early age and learned to draw from his mother. After service in the U.S. Marine Corps in Vietnam, he studied law at Baylor University
and also studied painting privately while in law school. He lived and worked in East Texas until 1989 when he moved to Dallas living in the colorful Deep Ellum
section of that city (1990–1993).
In 1993 Donray moved to New York, locating first in the DUMBO
area of Brooklyn and later moving to Manhattan
, maintaining a studio on 14th Street near 7th Avenue on the border between Greenwich Village
and Chelsea. While in New York, he became friends with artists Knox Martin
, Norman Bluhm
, Mel Chin
and Irv Tepper, and critic and museum curator, James Harithas. He also was friends with industrial music pioneer J.G. Thirlwell of Foetus (band)
, whose portrait he painted. Donray regularly attended the lectures of Knox Martin at the Art Students League of New York
, and was so impressed that Martin became a trusted and reliable mentor to the artist. Many consider Donray's New York years as his formative period. Six years later in 1999, Donray returned to Texas.
In the late '90s and early 2000s Donray slowly built a critical following for his work. Some of Donray's best-known works to date were created in this period, including: the acrylic-on-canvas paintings "Woman in a Boat" and "Sanctuary" (both in the Allegiance Capital collection) and "Trouble in the Chute," purchased by billionaire Bob McNair, a businessman, philanthropist and owner of the Houston Texans
National Football League
team who is ranked #321 on the 2008 Forbes
400 Richest Americans. The work hangs at Reliant Stadium
in Houston. Also, Johnny Depp
, the Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning actor, is reported to have purchased the Donray painting "Fandancer."
In early 2009, his works received increasing mainstream popularity and attention, signified by the announced February purchase of a broad cross-section of his works by Allegiance Capital Corporation, an investment-banking firm. In April, Prestige Financial Center, a financial services company, also purchased three of his works.
, Futurism
, Surrealism
and Fauvism
, but also by movements including Baroque
, Romanticism
, and German Expressionism
. His work is described by critics and other artists as “fierce,” “at once raw and refined” (Donald Kuspit
); “vertiginous and confrontational” (Knox Martin
); “figurative, abstract and American” (Edward Lucie-Smith
); “complex and luminous” (Ruth Bass); and “vibrant with near violent colors” (Harold Rubin, The Rivington Gallery, London, UK).
Donray emphasizes color and motion, and he regularly experiments with various unique techniques using acrylics and pastels. His innovative technique in his acrylic works, a technique he pioneered, involves an acrylic-on-acrylic collage created by the artist. Unlike the collage material used by other artists, Donray uses the same material as what is being used to paint with, and develops it through a tedious process of mixing, pouring, manipulation and cutting. This involves the use of glazing and under painting, the use of lines and gestural brush strokes to define shapes in masses of swirling color, and the use of layers of translucent glaze dried separately from the painting. He also uses pouring and dripping and splattering methods of applying paint as well manipulating it on the surface with pieces of cardboard rather than brushes. Many early paintings were completed on Masonite, but he moved exclusively to canvas while living in New York. His technique in the use of pastels involves rubbing and smudging the material into the surface of paper and drawing images with a kneaded eraser.
, London
, and in the Dallas/Fort Worth area where he works and resides.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
in the style of Post-Modern Expressionism
Expressionism
Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...
with elements of Surrealism
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
, Futurism
Futurism
Futurism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century.Futurism or futurist may refer to:* Afrofuturism, an African-American and African diaspora subculture* Cubo-Futurism* Ego-Futurism...
and Fauvism
Fauvism
Fauvism is the style of les Fauves , a short-lived and loose group of early twentieth-century Modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong colour over the representational or realistic values retained by Impressionism...
.
He is known for metaphorical imagery exploring the dynamic nature of life and the human desire for spiritual
Spirituality
Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...
enlightenment and fulfillment.
Donray subjects include figures, objects and landscapes in motion, and methods include acrylic
Acrylic paint
Acrylic paint is fast drying paint containing pigment suspension in acrylic polymer emulsion. Acrylic paints can be diluted with water, but become water-resistant when dry...
on various media including Masonite
Masonite
Masonite is a type of hardboard invented by William H. Mason.-History:Masonite was invented in 1924 in Laurel, Mississippi, by William H. Mason. Mass production started in 1929. In the 1930s and 1940s Masonite was used for many applications including doors, roofing, walls, desktops, and canoes...
, paper, canvas, and drawings in charcoal, conte crayon, and color pastels. His works have been collected by a number of notable people and entities.
Donray might be best known for an innovative technique he uses in his acrylic works, a technique he has pioneered. It involves an acrylic-on-acrylic collage
Collage
A collage is a work of formal art, primarily in the visual arts, made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole....
created by the artist. The collage material is the same as that being used to paint with, and developed through a tedious process of mixing, pouring, manipulation and cutting. The result is a dramatic display of intermingling color, texture, depth, reflecting light and energy.
Early Life and Development as an Artist
Donray was born Donald Arvin Ray in Houston, TexasTexas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, July 29, 1945. He showed an interest in art at an early age and learned to draw from his mother. After service in the U.S. Marine Corps in Vietnam, he studied law at Baylor University
Baylor University
Baylor University is a private, Christian university located in Waco, Texas. Founded in 1845, Baylor is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.-History:...
and also studied painting privately while in law school. He lived and worked in East Texas until 1989 when he moved to Dallas living in the colorful Deep Ellum
Deep Ellum
Deep Ellum is an arts and entertainment district near downtown in east Dallas, Texas . It lies directly east of the elevated I-45/US 75 freeway and extends to Exposition Avenue, connected to downtown by, from north to south, Pacific, Elm, Main, Commerce, and Canton streets...
section of that city (1990–1993).
In 1993 Donray moved to New York, locating first in the DUMBO
Dumbo
Dumbo is a 1941 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released on October 23, 1941, by RKO Radio Pictures.The fourth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, Dumbo is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and illustrated by Harold Pearl for the prototype of a...
area of Brooklyn and later moving to Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, maintaining a studio on 14th Street near 7th Avenue on the border between Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
and Chelsea. While in New York, he became friends with artists Knox Martin
Knox Martin
Knox Martin is an American painter, sculptor and muralist.Born in 1923 in Barranquilla, Colombia, he studied at the Art Students League of New York from 1946 till 1950. He is one of the leading members of New York School - a group of artists and writers. He lives and works in New York City."Art is...
, Norman Bluhm
Norman Bluhm
Norman Bluhm , was an American painter classified as an abstract expressionist, and as an action painter.- Biography :...
, Mel Chin
Mel Chin
Mel Chin is a conceptual visual artist. Motivated largely by political, cultural, and social circumstances, Chin works in a variety of art media to calculate meaning in modern life. Chin places art in landscapes, in public spaces, and in gallery and museum exhibitions, but his work is not limited...
and Irv Tepper, and critic and museum curator, James Harithas. He also was friends with industrial music pioneer J.G. Thirlwell of Foetus (band)
Foetus (band)
Foetus is the primary musical outlet of industrial music pioneer J. G. Thirlwell. Until 1995 the band underwent various name changes, all including the word foetus. Monikers adopted at different times include Foetus Under Glass, You've Got Foetus On Your Breath and Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel...
, whose portrait he painted. Donray regularly attended the lectures of Knox Martin at the Art Students League of New York
Art Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school located on West 57th Street in New York City. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists, and has maintained for over 130 years a tradition of offering reasonably priced classes on a...
, and was so impressed that Martin became a trusted and reliable mentor to the artist. Many consider Donray's New York years as his formative period. Six years later in 1999, Donray returned to Texas.
Critical Success and Mainstream Following
Houston Texans
The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston, Texas. The team is currently a member of the Southern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
team who is ranked #321 on the 2008 Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
400 Richest Americans. The work hangs at Reliant Stadium
Reliant Stadium
Reliant Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium, in Houston, Texas, USA. Reliant Stadium has a seating capacity of 71,500, a total square footage of with of natural grass playing surface....
in Houston. Also, Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
, the Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning actor, is reported to have purchased the Donray painting "Fandancer."
In early 2009, his works received increasing mainstream popularity and attention, signified by the announced February purchase of a broad cross-section of his works by Allegiance Capital Corporation, an investment-banking firm. In April, Prestige Financial Center, a financial services company, also purchased three of his works.
Work & Technique
As an artist, Donray describes himself as "fiercely independent" in both his work and his influences, and as such has been influenced not only by ExpressionismExpressionism
Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...
, Futurism
Futurism
Futurism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century.Futurism or futurist may refer to:* Afrofuturism, an African-American and African diaspora subculture* Cubo-Futurism* Ego-Futurism...
, Surrealism
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
and Fauvism
Fauvism
Fauvism is the style of les Fauves , a short-lived and loose group of early twentieth-century Modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong colour over the representational or realistic values retained by Impressionism...
, but also by movements including Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
, Romanticism
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
, and German Expressionism
German Expressionism
German Expressionism refers to a number of related creative movements beginning in Germany before the First World War that reached a peak in Berlin, during the 1920s...
. His work is described by critics and other artists as “fierce,” “at once raw and refined” (Donald Kuspit
Donald Kuspit
Donald Kuspit is an American art critic, poet, and Distinguished Professor of art history and philosophy at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and professor of art history at the School of Visual Arts. Kuspit is one of America's most distinguished art critics. He was formerly the A....
); “vertiginous and confrontational” (Knox Martin
Knox Martin
Knox Martin is an American painter, sculptor and muralist.Born in 1923 in Barranquilla, Colombia, he studied at the Art Students League of New York from 1946 till 1950. He is one of the leading members of New York School - a group of artists and writers. He lives and works in New York City."Art is...
); “figurative, abstract and American” (Edward Lucie-Smith
Edward Lucie-Smith
John Edward McKenzie Lucie-Smith is a British writer, poet, art critic, curator, broadcaster and author of exhibition catalogues.-Biography:Lucie-Smith was born in Kingston, Jamaica, moving to the United Kingdom in 1946...
); “complex and luminous” (Ruth Bass); and “vibrant with near violent colors” (Harold Rubin, The Rivington Gallery, London, UK).
Donray emphasizes color and motion, and he regularly experiments with various unique techniques using acrylics and pastels. His innovative technique in his acrylic works, a technique he pioneered, involves an acrylic-on-acrylic collage created by the artist. Unlike the collage material used by other artists, Donray uses the same material as what is being used to paint with, and develops it through a tedious process of mixing, pouring, manipulation and cutting. This involves the use of glazing and under painting, the use of lines and gestural brush strokes to define shapes in masses of swirling color, and the use of layers of translucent glaze dried separately from the painting. He also uses pouring and dripping and splattering methods of applying paint as well manipulating it on the surface with pieces of cardboard rather than brushes. Many early paintings were completed on Masonite, but he moved exclusively to canvas while living in New York. His technique in the use of pastels involves rubbing and smudging the material into the surface of paper and drawing images with a kneaded eraser.
Critical Analysis
Dealers
Donray has dealers in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and in the Dallas/Fort Worth area where he works and resides.
External links
- http://www.donrayartist.com/contact/
- http://www.artnet.com/artist/14017/donray.html
- http://www.the-artists.org/artistsblog/posts/st_content_001.cfm?id=3299
- http://www.askart.com/askart/artist.aspx?artist=121877
- http://www.allcapcorp.com/newsroom/press_release.aspx