April 30, 2016
2016-04-30T15:00:00
100 W 10th Ave.
Eugene, OR 97401
Artist Ray Komer
Saturday, April 30, 2016
An illustrated talk by UO's Jack Ryan.
In connection with an exhibit of Ray Komer’s work at Pacific Sky
Exhibitions, Jack Ryan will give a free illustrated talk about this local, under-recognized
artist. Komer left an impressive collection of drawings, paintings, collages,
and sculpture. This talk will touch on his life and times, present a visual survey
of his art, and locate his work in a historical context.
Born to a young single mother who could not keep him, Ray Komer
was raised as an orphan, including time spent at Father Flanagan’s famous Boys
Town. Komer found his way out of an abbreviated stint in the US Navy and headed
to California where he lived and traveled up and down the coast. In the early
90’s, he moved to Portland and then later became a long time resident of Eugene
where he found a welcoming environment to produce huge volumes of his art. His
work was shaped by his idiosyncratic personality, outsider identity, and later
his research into European and American modernism. Komer died in 2000 while out
dancing in downtown Eugene.
Jack Ryan is an Associate Professor of CoreSTUDIO in
the Department of Art at the University of Oregon, the director of Pacific Sky
Exhibitions, and a member of Ditch Projects. Ryan is an artist and independent
curator whose own works have been exhibited nationally and internationally. He
has received fellowships for residencies in Iceland, Djerassi, and the New
Media Institute in Banff, Canada. Recently he was awarded a Precipice Grant
administered by PICA and supported by the Andy Warhol Foundation and the
Calligram Foundation. He received the
Hallie Ford Fellowship in the summer of 2015.
This
event is presented in partnership by Eugene Public Library and the University
of Oregon Department of Art.