Charles Ray

About the Exhibition

A major mid-career survey of Chicago-born, Los Angeles-based artist Charles Ray concludes its national tour at the MCA beginning May 1. Ray has earned an international reputation for exploring the authenticity and meaning of representation in provocative and innovative works of sculpture, photography, film, and performance. Throughout a career which began in the early 1970s, Ray’s artistic practices have variously referenced process art, conceptual art, minimalism, and figuration, resulting in a unique body of work offering multiple levels of interpretation. The exhibition-the first comprehensive U.S. presentation of Ray’s work-will cover the artist’s career in four broad, overlapping sections: performance sculptures from the early 1970s to the mid-1980s; object-oriented abstract sculptures from the late 1980s; figurative works from the early 1990s; and recent film works.

The Chicago presentation of the exhibition is coordinated by MCA Assistant Curator Dominic Molon.