Jonathan Michael Ray

Comprising of video, photography, sculpture, print and drawing, much of Ray's  art practice is deeply connected to his surroundings. He examines the multilayered histories, fictions and beliefs assigned to artefacts, materials and the places he encounters.

Elements of collage and assemblage are often present and he regularly uses found objects and images, as well as material direct from the landscape, appropriating their symbolism while creating a new context and meaning. By layering and combining material  Jonathan is interested in looking beyond the surface of a purely physical existence and breaking down the institutions by which we are taught to see and experience the world.

Jonathan Michael Ray (b. 1984) is a graduate of Nottingham Trent in 2007 and Slade School of Fine Art in 2016. In 2021 Ray was selected to take part in Masterclass at Zabludowicz Collection, London, he and Verity Birt organised “Gathering”, a group exhibition at Grays Wharf, Penryn, and Harlaam Artspace, Wirksworth and he was shortlisted for the National Sculpture Prize at Broomhill Estate in Devon. In 2022 his work was the subject of a two-person exhibition alongside Wilhelmina Barns-Graham at Tate St Ives, and In 2023 he exhibited The Voice in the Shadow, which was the inaugural exhibition at Bo Lee and Workman’s new gallery space in Bruton. He also took part in a month-long residency in Orkney in the same year. Ray has been based in West Cornwall since 2018.