Ray Beldner

 First Time Art Party Participant

Untitled Collage (Man Ray Torsos)

Artist’s Website

www.raybelder.com

Artist’s Statement

Like many artists, I make art from the stuff of everyday life: clothing, cash, stolen items, porn. My work takes the form of sculpture, installation, print, digital media, text-based work, and applied arts. It is frequently derived from conceptual ideas that deconstruct hierarchical systems “high art” versus “low art,” “intrinsic value” versus “commercial value,” and so on with ironic humor. 

Most recently, I have been making collages with images I’ve appropriated from fine art sources: auction catalogs, art magazine, art history books, museum posters, etc. Like past projects of mine, they explore notions of value: historic and aesthetic. In this case, I mine these familiar art images for colors, shapes, and textures to create amorphously shaped collages that are meant to be visually active and confound one’s expectations of the familiar source imagery. 

Each image paper fragment is adhered using acid-free glue, and then the finished collages are glued to rag paper backing. After that, they are mounted to lightweight Sintra PVC board cut to the unique shape of each piece. They stand off the wall several inches which gives them depth and shadow, rending them more like dimensional objects rather than traditional 2D collages. 

About the Artist

I am a sculptor and new media artist whose work has been exhibited internationally and can be found in many public and private collections, including the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery and the Federal Reserve Board, Washington D.C., the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Oakland Museum of California, and the San Jose Museum of Art, among others.

Born in San Francisco, I received a BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and an MFA from Mills College. I have received numerous awards and fellowships and he have taught Sculpture, Interdisciplinary Studies, and Professional Practices at the San Francisco Art Institute, California College of the Arts, San Francisco State University, and University of California, Santa Cruz.

My work has been reviewed in publications including Art in America, Arte, Art On Paper, Wired, Playboy, The Boston Globe, The Los Angeles Times, The Village Voice, The International Herald Tribune, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times.