VAN RAY - GALERIE HEGEMANN

VITA

Born in Düsseldorf in 1984, Van Ray is a renowned German artist who is best known for his unique fusion of detailed stencil graffiti with consumer society signs and is one of Germany’s leading urban artists.

He began his career in the late 90s with graffiti spray campaigns, which soon became a means of social and societal communication and criticism. His works encompassed a variety of techniques, including stencils, graffiti, posters and sculptures. After moving to Cologne in 2007, he founded the artist collaboration “fancyroom” together with Philipp Pongratz, which aimed to combine graffiti and graphic design and was successful with numerous textile designs, both self-marketed and commissioned by fashion labels.

Van Ray’s works are characterized by the use of a special rust technique and detailed stencil graffiti on old materials such as steel, metal automatons, enamel signs or wooden slats. His works, which combine elements of street art and pop art, take an ironic to sardonic look at social grievances, consumerism and political failings. Van Ray’s works break up the seemingly beautiful and pleasing with a socially critical perspective and have an unmistakable duck pictogram as their signature.

CITATIONS

Urban Shit: “Er gehört zu den jüngsten Urban Art Künstlern Deutschlands – und zu den erfolgreichsten.“

Van Ray: “Rebellion does not derive from the use of a certain technique, but rather from the color of your tie.“

Widewalls: “Considered to be one of the most successful of the younger generation of urban artists in Germany.“

Steve Gray: „Van Ray has employed the imagery of well-known brands such as Coca-Cola, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, along with the faces of people like Kate Moss and Scarlett Johansson, to question our values and how we want to live, essentially asking us, what makes us happy?“

SELECTION OF EXHIBITIONS

2023 – Seattle Art Fair, (fa), Neue Kunst Gallery @ Seattle Art Fair, Seattle.
2023 – Galleries Art Fair, (fa), Gallery Jeon @ Galleries Art Fair, Seoul.
2023 – One Art Taipei, (fa), Gin Huang Gallery @ One Art Taipei, Taipei.
2022 – Korean International Art Fair, (fa), Pigment Gallery @ KIAF, Seoul.
2022 – Only Time is Ours, (so), Gallery Jeon, Seoul.
2021 – AAF Hamburg, (fa), Galerie Hegemann @ AAF Hamburg, Hamburg.
2021 – One Art Taipei, (fa), Gin Huang Gallery @ One Art Taipei, Taipei.
2021 – Korean International Art Fair, (fa), Pigment Gallery @ KIAF, Seoul.
2020 – Van Ray, (so), Gin Huang Gallery, Taipei.
2020 – Contemporary Istanbul (VR), (fa), Pigment Gallery @ Virtual CI, Istanbul.
2020 – X-Change, (gr), Venet-Haus Galerie and Galerie Hegemann, Ulm/Munich.
2019 – Urban Works, (gr), Galerie Hegemann, Munich.
2017 – London Art Fair, (fa), Venet-Haus Galerie @ London Art Fair, London.
2016 – Not Limits, (gr), Galerie Hegemann, Munich.
2016 – Art Karlsruhe, (fa), Neue Kunst Gallery @ Art Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe.
2015 – GrossArtig, (gr), Galerie Hegemann, Munich.
2015 – Urban Beauty, (gr), Urban Art Gallery, Stuttgart.
2015 – Stealing graffiti is a crime, (gr), Galerie Kellermann, Düsseldorf.
2014 – Urban Art Festival, (gr), KuFa, Luxembourg.
2014 – Fuck You, (so), 30Works Gallery, Cologne.
2014 – Urban Art, (gr), Gallery Hegemann, Munich.
2011 – Van Ray , (so), Plum Gallery, Shanghai.
2011 – Dirty Works #02, (gr), 30Works Gallery, Cologne.