Dick Wray

Richard Wray (December 5, 1933 - January 9, 2011 ) was an American abstract expressionist painter whose work had an influence on the art scene in Houston, Texas.

Early life and education

Dick Wray was born in Houston, Texas in 1933. He was the oldest child of Bundy and Mildred Wray, who both worked for the Union Pacific Railroad. His mother was known to have encouraged him to take art classes at an early age. Wray had one sibling: a brother named Robert Wray. Wray travelled to Europe in 1958 in order to discover what he believed was the "center" of the art world.

Career and achievements

Wray's artistic feats are numerous. According to the William Reaves Fine Art Gallery, Wray's work has been exhibited widely throughout the country, including in Texas, New York, California, and Oklahoma. In 1962, Wray's submission to the Museum of Fine Arts Houston (MFAH) exhibition, "The Southwest: Painting and Sculpture", received the Ford Foundation Purchase Prize. While living in Los Angeles between 1964 and 1966, he was the guest artist at the Tamarind Lithography Workshop. Upon returning to Houston, he served on the faculty at the Glassell School of Art between 1968 and 1982. In 2000, he was presented with the Houston Art League's Texas Artist of the Year Award. Wray was featured in a 2006 exhibition—"Texas Modern: The Rediscovery of Early Texas Abstraction"—at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.

Personal life and death

A few years after returning from Europe, Wray met Georgetta Harvey, a model and photographer. They were married in 1961. Though they spent most of their marriage in Houston, they maintained a brief residence in Los Angeles. Dick and Georgetta had three children: Victor, Robert and Harold. Their oldest son died at age 18 in an automobile accident. James Harithas, director of the Station Museum of Contemporary Art, explained that "As far as the locals were concerned, Dick was one of the only painters who had been working seriously and with commitment".

Education

1958: Kunstakademie, Düsseldorf, Germany 1955–58: University of Houston, School of Architecture

Grants and awards

1962: Ford Foundation Purchase Prize 1978: National Endowment for the Arts Artist Grant

Exhibitions His exhibitions have included: 2012: "Dick Wray: Explosive Color / Dynamic Paint", William Reaves Gallery, Houston, TX 2010: "Dick Wray: Black & White", Wade Wilson Art, Houston, TX 2009: "Dick Wray", Wade Wilson Art, Houston, TX "Dick Wray: Untitled", HCG Gallery, Dallas, TX 2008: Museum of East Texas, Lufkin, TX 2007: "Texas Modern: The Rediscovery of Early Texas Abstraction", Baylor University, Waco, TX, Wade Wilson Art, Houston, TX 2006: "Papiros Amorosos", Museo Regional de Querétaro, Oro, Mexico 2005: "Texas Vision: The Barrett Collection, Meadows Museum, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 2004: "Made in Houston", Brazos Annex, Houston, TX 2003: "Dick Wray", The Station, Art Car Museum, Houston, TX 2002: "Dick Wray", Texas Christian University, Moudy Gallery, Fort Worth, TX 2001: "Dick Wray: 236 Paintings" ArtScan Gallery, Houston, TX 2000: "Dick Wray – Texas Artist of the Year: Exhibition", Art League Gallery of Houston, TX "Dick Wray: 236 Painting", ArtScan Gallery, Houston, TX 1999: "International and American Contemporary Fine Art", T. Curtsnoc Fine Arts, North Miami, FL "Dick Wray: Installation", ArtScan Gallery, Houston, TX 1998: "Dick Wray Prints", Lesikar Gallery, Houston, TX "Works on Paper", State Thomas Gallery, Dallas, TX 1997: "Dick Wray: First New York Exhibition", Lerner Heller Gallery, NYC, NY "Committed to Abstraction: Ten in Texas", Austin Museum of Art, TX 1996: "Texas Modern and Post-Modern", Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX "Manif Seoul ’96", Seoul Arts Center, Seoul, Korea 1995: "Convergence", Davis/McClain Gallery, Pennzoil Place, Houston, TX "Recent Work", Moody Gallery, Houston, TX 1994: Blue Star Art Space, San Antonio, TX Museum of East Texas, Lufkin 1993: "Artists’ Progress: Seven Houston Artists, 1943–1993" Glassell School of Art/ Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX 1992: "Recent Prints", Shark's Incorporated, Boulder, CO "New Texas Art", Cheney Coles Museum, Spokanne WA The Boise Art Museum, Boise, ID 1991: "Recent Works", Moody's Gallery, Houston, TX Austin University, Nacogdoches, TX and Transco Gallery, Houston, TX 1990: "Printmaking in Texas: the 1980’s" Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, TX 1989: "Just Paint", Blue Start Art Space, San Antonio, TX 1988: "Texas Art: An Exhibition Selected from the Menil Collection, The Museum Of Fine Arts, Houston and the Trustee’s Collections of the Contemporary Arts Museum, Richmond Hall, Houston, TX 1987: "Monotypes" Cathleen Gallander and Susan Lang Gallery, NYC, NY 1986: "Third Western States Exhibition", The Brooklyn Museum, NY 1985: "Fresh Paint: The Houston School", Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX 1984: "Monotypes", Moody Gallery, Houston, TX 1983: "New Art from a New City", Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg, Austria 1982: "Our Time, Houston’s Contemporary Arts Museum 1948–1982", Contemporary Art Museum, Houston, TX 1981: "Paintings and Drawings", Moody Gallery, Houston, TX 1980: "Response", Tyler Museum of Art, Tyler, TX 1979: "Fire", Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, TX 1978: "Art of Texas", The Renaissance Society, University of Chicago, IL 1977: "Paintings and Drawings", Lerner–Heller Gallery, NYC, NY 1976: Pelham–Von Stoffler Gallery, Houston, TX 1975: "One Man Show", Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, TX 1974: "Abstract Painting and Sculpture", Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX 1973: "Houston Invitational Exhibition", Contemporary Arts Museum, TX 1972: "Contemporary Arts Museum, Dallas-Fort Worth-Houston Invitational Exhibition", Houston, TX 1971: "Other Coasts", California State University, Long Beach, CA 1970: "Dick Wray Paintings", The Museum of Fine Arts School of Art, Houston 1969: "Tamarind Homage to Lithography", Museum of Modern Art, NYC, NY 1968: Hemisfair, San Antonio, TX 1967: New Arts Gallery, Houston, TX 1966: "Dick Wray, New Works", St. Mary's University, San Antonio, TX 1965: "100 Contemporary American Drawings", Museum of Art, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 1964: Tamarind Lithography Workshop, Los Angeles, CA – Guest Artist 1963: "Dick Wray Drawings", Louisiana Gallery, Houston, TX 1962: "Southwest Painting and Sculpture Exhibition" Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX 1961: "Ways and Means", Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, TX 1960: "Dick Wray Paintings", Louisiana Gallery, Houston, TX 1959: Beaumont Art Museum, Beaumont, TX

Collections His works are in the following public and corporate collections: Albright–Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY Amarillo Art Center, Amarillo, TX Chase Manhattan Bank, NYC, NY Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, TX East Texas Museum of Art, Tyler, TX Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, TX Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX Museum of Modern Art, NYC, NY Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, TX National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC Paine–Webber/ Rotan Mosle, Houston, TX Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs, CA San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, TX Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK Wilson Industries, Houston, TX Witte Memorial Museum, San Antonio, TX

Publications

Patricia Covo Johnson (1995). Contemporary Art in Texas. Craftsman House, Roseville East, New South Wales. 240 pp. Greene, Alison de Lima (2000). Texas: 150 Works from the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers. New York, New York, 279 pp. [with contributions by Shannon Halwes, Kathleen Robinson, Robert Montgomery, Monica Garza, Jason Goldstein, and Alejandra Jiménez]