Ray Sell

“Television is not the truth. Television is a goddamned amusement park.” – Howard Beale from the film Network, 1976

If you’re of an age that can remember a time before the constant bombardment of news and celebrity culture, this quote attacking the role of media may hold a palpable significance. In only the last few years with the rise of gossip rags and television shows dedicated to Tinseltown’s elite, high-speed internet updates every few seconds gathering news from the far reaches of the world, and the truly meta-physical: blogs about blogging; a constant stream of information, at the same time relevant and grossly redundant, is suffocating our society under the pillow of subliminal messaging and “organic” advertising.

The work of Ray Sell attempts to simultaneously dissect the messaging and provide commentary on this phenomenon, particularly focusing on its impact on the development of the male archetype. Taking images and magazine clippings from a vast swath of media over the last 60 years, Mr. Sell is determined to create a forum for self-reflection and debate, and question the very ethos by which our culture rears its male brood. By capturing and re-appropriating images of motorcycles and muscle cars, nude women and fierce beasts, cowboys and Indians – Mr. Sell has created a different message with his assemblage of fantastic collage arrangement, vivid colors and these poignant relics from media of days past. By removing the images from their original environs, he has striped them of their intended meaning and given them his own voice.

Often whimsical and rarely intended to elicit political response, Mr. Sell’s electric, colorful work provides its viewers with an opportunity to really look at what’s being transmitted through imagery and decide how they themselves will respond.

Ray Sell received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration from the School of Visual Arts in New York.

Ray’s artwork has been displayed in New York and Miami. He has received critical acclaim from the June 2008 issues of ArtCards, the Dec 2007 Art Basel Review in the Economist and the 2008 preview for the Miami Basel shows in Forbes Magazine.

Artist Press Kit

Leo Kesting Gallery launched in 2003 and developed an aggressive campaign to introduce new figurative artists to collectors and art supporters. Leo Kesting offers the art viewing public an opportunity to see forthcoming talents in an intimate setting where undiscovered, cutting-edge artists are presented to the contemporary art scene.

Leo Kesting Gallery is located at 812 Washington Street at the corner of Gansevoort in Manhattan’s Meat Packing District. A, C, E or L train to 8th Ave and 14th Street or 1, 2, 3 train to 14th Street. Gallery hours are Tuesday to Sunday from 11am until 7pm.