SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- Gallery 16 announces a long awaited solo exhibition of San Francisco luminary Rex Ray. This exhibition is the first show of the artists work in California in nearly four years. As you may be aware, the artist's health has been in decline over this period and the gallery is proud and honored to present the artwork of a true American treasure.

The exhibition presents paintings, collage and newly published original prints. Ray's work has become a fixture on the national arts scene with its unmistakable graphic power and distinctively barbed beauty. Drawing inspiration from his influences—the Arts and Crafts Movement, organic and hard-edged abstraction, pattern and textile design, Ray playfully combines these formalist concepts in his pursuit to create beautiful things.

"I fell into a crazy group of Marxist, intellectual gays in Colorado in the 1970s," Ray says. "They had a very democratic approach to art, where they believed that all art forms were the same. There was no hierarchy between Fine Art and commercial." When Ray attended the San Francisco Art Institute in the 1980s, his perspective was legitimized under instructors Angela Davis and Ray Mondini. To him, art was about how it was making people feel.

His paintings and collages have received acclaim in major national and international art venues, and his ubiquitous graphic work has made him a staple on the international design scene. Ray has refined his distinct abstract vocabulary which draws inspiration from the Arts and Crafts Movement, organic and hard-edged abstraction, pattern and textile design. Ray playfully combines these concepts with his pursuit to create beautiful things.

The artists work has been the subject of several monographs including the Chronicle Book Publication "Rex Ray: Art +Design", "Paper Collage, 2006" and The 480 page, hardcover book "Information", published in 2011. Ray’s work has been featured in numerous exhibitions worldwide including Denver Art Museum,Denver, Co, University Art Museum Berkeley, San Diego Museum of Art, San Jose Museum of Art.