Rex Ray + Art Basel

The shy guy above is reported to be the gracious San Francisco artist, Rex Ray, who recently stopped for a moment to speak with TT, before heading out the door to Miami's giant, city-wide spectacle, Art Basel.

If you go, don't miss seeing RR next Thursday night (Dec. 6) at the Jonathan Adler store on Lincoln Road Mall. He'll be the one signing his brand new book, Rex Ray Art + Design, and charming the crowd. Get there early and you might be lucky enough to snap up one of his colorful, graphic resin panels, too. Now available through Jonathan Adler, as well as www.rexray.com, each work begins with paper cutouts, which are then collaged onto plywood panels or canvas. "A rare combination of sophistication and decorative appeal" and "abstract and hand-crafted", his work can be seen in "high-design hotels, world-class museums, and hip restaurants."*

With a line of note cards, journals, gift wrap, and calendars coming out soon through Chronicle Books, RR is also working on a line that will be exclusive to SFMOMA. A very busy man, for someone who describes himself as "too feral" to work a regular job. RR says he had to invent a way to make a living, and it seems he's done that one better - he's making a great living doing work that he loves and never tires of. In the little downtime he gets, you might find RR carousing the many wonderful restaurants in San Francisco, or perhaps just hanging out with friends and his trusty sidekick Skeeter.

TT won't be going to Miami, so we'll have to be content with our soon-to-arrive copy of Rex Ray's self-published book of paper collages. (Still available through his website.)

Here are a few of our favorite pieces by Rex Ray.

* Chronicle Books

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
"There's no retirement for an artist, it's your way of living so there's no end to it."
Henry Moore