Ray Sell Ya Gotta Be Tough July 9th - August 2nd Leo Kesting Gallery
2009
Free Admission/Open to the Public
Info From its origins as Capla Kesting Fine Art in Brooklyn, the Leo Kesting Gallery launched in 2003 and developed an aggressive campaign to introduce new figurative artists to collectors and art supporters. Leo Kesting offers the art viewing public an opportunity to see forthcoming talents in an intimate setting where undiscovered, cutting-edge artists are presented to the contemporary art scene.
Leo Kesting Gallery opening hours: Tuesday - Sunday 11am until 7pm 812 Washington St (corner of Gansevoort St) New York 10014 A, C, E & L train to 8th Ave 1, 2, 3 to 14th Street 917- 650 - 3760 / 917- 292 - 8865 http://www.leokesting.com
Leo Kesting Gallery Presents
Ray Sell Ya Gotta Be Tough July 9th - August 2nd
2009
Opening Night Reception: Thurs July 9th, 7pm - 10pm, “Television is not the truth. Television is a goddamned amusement park.” Howard Beale, Film Network, 1976 Dummy Text: If you’re of an age that can remember a time before the constant bombardment of news and celebrity culture, this quote attacking the role of media may hold a palpable significance. In only the last few years with the rise of gossip rags and television shows dedicated to Tinseltown’s elite, highspeed internet updates every few seconds gathering news from the far reaches of the world, and the truly meta-physical: blogs about blogging; a constant stream of information, at the same time relevant and grossly redundant, is suffocating our society under the pillow of subliminal messaging and “organic” advertising.
Often whimsical and rarely intended to elicit political response, Mr. Sell’s electric, colorful work provides its viewers with an opportunity to really look at what’s being transmitted through imagery and decide how they themselves will respond. Ray’s artwork has been displayed in New York and Miami. He has received critical acclaim from the June 2008 issues of ArtCards and in the Dece 2007 Art Basel Review in the Economist.
The work of Ray Sell attempts to simultaneously dissect the messaging and provide commentary on this phenomenon, particularly focusing on its impact on the development of the male archetype. Taking images and magazine clippings from a vast swath of media over the last 60 years, Mr. Sell is determined to create a forum for self-reflection and debate, and question the very ethos by which our culture rears its male brood. By capturing and re-appropriating images of motorcycles and muscle cars, nude women and fierce beasts, cowboys and Indians - Mr. Sell has created a different message with his assemblage of fantastic collage arrangement, vivid colors and these poignant relics from media of days past. By removing the (A)
(A)
Target Practice, Mixed Media, 44” x 18” x 20”
1
(A)
2
(B)
(C)
(A) (B) (C)
Sing Along, Mixed Media, 12” x 9” Right on the Kisser, Mixed Media, 11” x 11” Tea Time, Mixed Media, 6” x 8”
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(A)
(C)
4
(B)
(D)
(A) (B) (C) (D)
Limelight, Mixed Media, 12” x 12” Breakin’ the Habit, Mixed Media, 6” x 12” Have a Look-see, Mixed Media, 6” x 12” Blast Off, Mixed Media, 11” x 11”
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(A)
6
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)
Farmer’s Photo, Mixed Media, 12” x 12” New Shirt, Mixed Media, 6” x 6” Day Dream, Mixed Media, 8” x 8” Celebrity Spokesman, Mixed Media, 8” x 8” Whiskers, Mixed Media, 11” x 11”
7
(A)
(B)
8
(C)
(A) (B) (C)
No Bull, Mixed Media, 8” x 6” Decoy, Mixed Media, 12” x 16” The Chief, Mixed Media, 12” x 9”
9
(A)
10
(B)
(C)
(A) (B) (C)
Slide On In, Mixed Media, 14” x 11” Cry Baby, Mixed Media, 4” x 4” Scrambled, Mixed Media, 10” x 8”
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Artist Biography
Ray Sell
Brooklyn, New York “Television is not the truth. Television is a goddamned amusement park.” Howard Beale, Film Network, 1976 If you’re of an age that can remember a time before the constant bombardment of news and celebrity culture, this quote attacking the role of media may hold a palpable significance. In only the last few years with the rise of gossip rags and television shows dedicated to Tinseltown’s elite, high-speed internet updates every few seconds gathering news from the far reaches of the world, and the truly metaphysical: blogs about blogging; a constant stream of information, at the same time relevant and grossly redundant, is suffocating our society under the pillow of subliminal messaging and “organic” advertising.
Often whimsical and rarely intended to elicit political response, Mr. Sell’s electric, colorful work provides its viewers with an opportunity to really look at what’s being transmitted through imagery and decide how they themselves will respond.
The work of Ray Sell attempts to simultaneously dissect the messaging and provide commentary on this phenomenon, particularly focusing on its impact on the development of the male archetype. Taking images and magazine clippings from a vast swath of media over the last 60 years, Mr. Sell is determined to create a forum for self-reflection and debate, and question the very ethos by which our culture rears its male brood.
Ray’s artwork has been displayed in New York and Miami. He has received critical acclaim from the June 2008 issues of ArtCards and in the Dece 2007 Art Basel Review in the Economist.
Ray Sell received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration from the School of Visual Arts in New York. As a co-founder of the Bird Beak collective in 2006 with fellow artists Nick Dyball and Tuf Weidner, Ray has worked with the group to bring attention to new artists from his intimate social circles.
Cover
By capturing and re-appropriating images of motorcycles and muscle cars, nude women and fierce beasts, cowboys and Indians - Mr. Sell has created a different message with his assemblage of fantastic collage arrangement, vivid colors and these poignant relics from media of days past. By removing the images from their original environs, he has striped them of their intended meaning and given them his own voice.
(Front) Spot Light, mixed media, 12” x 9” (Back) Thinkin’ With Your Cock, mixed media, 12” x 16”
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Lincoln Capla 1969 - 2006
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