Charles Ray - Figure Ground

Charles Ray's sculpture is a way of thinking that informs his work across a wide range of media, from gelatin silver prints to porcelain, fiberglass, wood, and steel. This career-spanning publication features conceptual, political, formal, and technical perspectives on the work of contemporary sculptor Charles Ray, exploring his engagement with preexisting traditions and charged issues around race, gender, and sexuality. It includes an essay by Ray himself and a conversation between the artist and Hal Foster. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York will host an exhibition of Ray's work from January 31–June 5, 2022.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 112 pages
Publication date: 14 January 2022
Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Charles Ray's sculpture is a way of thinking that informs his work across a wide range of media, from gelatin silver prints to porcelain, fiberglass, wood, and steel. Spanning his fifty-year career, Charles Ray: Figure Ground showcases his early photographs and performances through his intriguing and often unsettling sculptures, some of which are published here for the first time. The essays foreground Ray's engagement with preexisting traditions, as well as charged issues around race, gender, and sexuality, notably expressed through his explorations of Mark Twain's 1884 novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. They also investigate the modalities of touch that run through his work. In addition, a reflection by Ray himself and a conversation between the artist and Hal Foster offer further insights into his multifaceted practice. Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press, the exhibition will be on display at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York from January 31 to June 5, 2022.

Weight: 566g
Dimension: 323 x 264 x 12 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781588397423