Rex Ray

Rex Ray, born Michael Patterson, was an American mixed-media Pop artist, best known for his design of concert posters for famous musicians such as David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, and R.E.M. Born to an American military family stationed in Germany on September 11, 1956, Ray studied at the San Francisco Art Institute. Highly influenced by Pop artist Andy Warhol, he collaged bright geometric abstractions from woodblock prints, photocopies, and painted paper. About his improvisational process, the artist once observed: “I now just start and let whatever happens happen. It often feels a bit like a wrestling match between the painting and me, but it keeps the process challenging and there seem to be far more surprises—and mistakes!—along the way.” His career was sadly cut short, when Ray died from complications of lymphoma on February 9, 2015 in San Francisco, CA at the age of 58.