The Santa Monica College (SMC) Emeritus Art Gallery presents a free exhibition of works by Los Angeles–based artist Ray McCray. The exhibition opens on June 27 and runs through September 6 in the Emeritus Art Gallery at 1227 Second St.
The opening reception for the exhibit will be held on Thursday, June 27, from 5pm to 6:30pm in the gallery, located on the first floor of the SMC Emeritus Campus, 1227 Second St, in downtown Santa Monica. Parking is available next door in Santa Monica Public Parking Structure No. 2. Gallery hours are 8:30am to 4:30pm Monday through Friday. The exhibition and opening reception are free.
The opening reception — the first in-gallery reception since spring 2020 — will be hosted by Emeritus Associate Dean (interim) Guadalupe Salgado, and will feature Emeritus Gallery Curator Jesse Benson in conversation with the artist.
The powerful collection of works on display spans decades of production. Though punctuated by fascinating painting-based constructions, the exhibition is driven largely by McCray’s incredible photo-collage investigations. Equal parts intricate and exuberant, the often 3-D or mixed media collages mine pop-cultural iconography, lifestyle and aesthetics mostly specific to Black American public identity.
SMC’s widely praised Emeritus program — founded by Santa Monica College in 1975 as a noncredit program to serve the lifelong learning interests of older adults — offers more than 120 noncredit adult education classes and special programs that serve more than 3,000 students each year.
More information is available by visiting smc.edu/emeritusgallery or calling (310) 434-4306. Exhibition and reception subject to change or cancellation without notice.
Grace Smith
