<em>Ray's A Laugh</em>: Responses To Ray Johnson's Work

In Ray's A Laugh, curated by Leo Fitzpatrick, a selection of contemporary artists respond to the work of collage and correspondence artist Ray Johnson (1927-1995). Here, another generation of New York tricksters and trendsters including Nate Lowman, Hanna Liden, Adam McEwen, Joe Bradley, Dan Colen, Josh Smith, Leo Fitzpatrick, and Dash Snow, apply their own sense of wit and guile to the work of a lesser known forebearer. Their socio-cultural riffs aptly reflect much of Johnson's work in various mediums from mail art to collage, faxed fragments to paintings and sculpture. From Nate Lowman's Squarilyn's to Hanna Liden's timely Ice Ice, these artists add their own personal twist to work that acknowledges the past while reflecting the importance of their own community and individual means of communication that Ray promulgated and remains a powerful force in the New York art world today.

Ray's A Laugh will be up from August 1 - September 7 at Half Gallery (208 Forsyth New York NY 10002 www.halfgallery.com)

Images courtesy of Half Gallery