NEW YORK, NY.- Garvey|Simon is presenting Alan Bray: Inhabited Landscape at DFN Projects, 16 East 79th Street, New York, NY. This exhibition marks Bray’s fourth solo show with Garvey|Simon and continues his deep exploration of inland Maine. This body of work focuses largely on natural habitats and dwellings. The exhibition also includes a rare graphite drawing—the second one the gallery has ever had on view.
Bray’s Maine is not the postcard vision of rugged coastlines and lighthouses. Decades of living in the state’s lesser-known interior—densely forested and isolated—have drawn the artist toward more intimate subjects. In his most recent works, he favors the nests and dwellings of woodland creatures over sweeping vistas. While a singular mountain scene appears in this exhibition, his focus remains on the intricate architectures of natural phenomena, where small moments hold immense presence. Rendered with exacting detail, Bray’s subjects—whether vacant burrows or hidden habitats—reflect both scientific observation and poetic sensitivity. Vividly toned and hyper-specific, they elevate the unnoticed into something fantastical and otherworldly.
Bray paints in casein, a milk-based tempera that dries quickly to a matte, velvety surface, requiring deliberate, precise application. Instead of sweeping brush strokes, he builds his images through small, controlled marks, layering pigment to achieve intricate detail. This unforgiving medium—nearly impossible to blend or correct—demands patience and meticulous layering, producing textures that verge on the tactile. This is particularly striking in his recent depictions of birds’ nests, where interwoven brushstrokes evoke the dry fragility of twigs and leaves. Though casein remains his primary medium, Inhabited Landscape includes a rare graphite drawing, in which Bray masterfully builds dimension through subtle shifts in shade and tone.
Alan Bray was born in Waterville, Maine, and grew up in Monson, a small slate-quarrying town set in the northern reaches of the Appalachians. Bray attended the Art Institute of Boston before graduating from the University of Southern Maine; he received his MFA in painting from the Villa Schifanoia in Florence, Italy. It was during this formative time in Florence that he was exposed to tempera on panel.
Bray’s work has been the subject of no less than 25 solo exhibitions and is included in the public collections at the Portland Museum of Art, ME; DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, MA; the Farnsworth Museum of Art, ME; Arnot Art Museum, Elmira, NY; Zillman Art Museum, ME; Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, WI; Lyman Allyn Museum of Arts, New London, CT; Maine Savings Bank Collection, Memphis Cancer Center, Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts, Menlo Park, CA; amongst others. The artist lives and works in Sangerville, Maine.
