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.