Ray Kleinlein: Recent Paintings

Ray Kleinlein Recent Paintings

Ray Kleinlein Recent Paintings April 20, 2024 - June 8, 2024 645 Chestnut Street, San Francisco, CA 94133 415.434.3055 | www.paulthiebaudgallery.com

Red, White and Blue Stripes, 2023, oil on canvas, 44 x 28 inches

Foreword

Our lives are full of objects, some that are special and only interact with occasionally, and others that are ubiquitous and we encounter every day. Often we pay only the slightest attention to the things we use all the time, only noticing their absence when they are needed. It is through these ordinary objects that Ray Kleinlein has found aesthetic meaning and expression for over three decades.

For this exhibition of Recent Paintings, Kleinlein chose to focus on the formalist motif of stripes as the organizational throughline in each work. This manifested itself not only in paintings of shirts with striped patterning, but in a group of canvases each depicting arrangements of books in vertical or horizontal stacks. At first glance, they appear to just be still life groupings of titles by multiple authors that have been turned to their page edges, however I encourage viewers to focus in on Kleinlein’s color choice. The cover ends of each volume in works like Row of Books (2024) are rendered in brilliant colors juxtaposed to each other and broken apart by the light and shadow falling on the page ends between them, creating a dynamic visual rhythm. The same rhythmic principle appears in his paintings of striped shirts, especially in Blue Stripes (2023). Here, for the first time, Kleilein has taken the fabric to the edges of the canvas, imparting the feeling of it becoming an abstract painting, despite it being a gathered shirt. This dance between representation and formalist principles is one I hope Kleinlein continues to engage in. In the following pages you will find an interview with Ray Kleinlein, where he discusses his interest in everyday objects and his painting methods.

I wish to give my greatest thanks to Ray Kleinlein for creating his exquisite paintings for us to exhibit and allowing us to showcase them at the gallery. I also wish to thank the Paul Thiebaud Gallery team – Colleen Casey, Gregory Hemming, and Matthew Miller for all of their efforts in making this exhibition a reality.

In conjunction with the opening of this exhibition on April 20, 2024, we were delighted to host a book launch and signing for the newly released Aesthetics of the Everyday by author Betty A. Block. I give my heartfelt thanks to Betty Block for arranging the event to take place at the gallery and for joining us at the signing.

Greg Flood, Director May 2024

Ray Kleinlein: Recent Paintings Artist Talk

Ray Kleinlein was born in Columbus, Ohio, and earned his BA in Art from the Columbus College of Art and his MFA in Painting and Art History from Ohio University. Since earning his MFA, Ray has taught painting at several universities and colleges, including Davidson College, Longwood University, and Hampton-Sydney College, where he is currently teaching. For almost three decades, he has elevated common objects to the status of fine art through skilled brushwork and color choices. At the opening of our second exhibition of his paintings, we held an artist talk where Kleinlein spoke about his focus on painting ordinary objects in the still-life format. What follows is a recounting of the talk, which has been edited for concision and clarity. To open the discussion, we started near Ray’s beginning:

Greg Flood: Tell us a little bit about growing up in Ohio and when you became interested in art.

Ray Kleinlein: One of my earliest memories is going with my parents to see my drawings displayed in a library at a local college. I was in kindergarten. My mom noticed that I was the only kindergarten artist who had TWO pieces on display. I hate to think that’s what motivated me, but who knows? I’ve been making art ever since.

GF: What were your experiences like at the Columbus College of Art and Design and Ohio University? What led you to major in art history as well as painting? What or who was your thesis about?

RK: The Columbus College of Art and Design was a very traditional art school where we learned painting and drawing from direct observation. I thought I was going to major in Graphic Design but fell in love with the magic of painting, and in particular with the subject of still life.

I also fell in love with art history (and to this day I think they are the most important classes for studio art students). I went to graduate school at Ohio University because they had a hybrid Painting and Art History major in their MFA program.

My Art History Thesis was on a genre painting by Eastman Johnson titled “Negro Life at the South.” in which I asked if a white man’s portrayal of slaves on the eve of the Civil War was a sympathetic portrayal of slaves human beings or an apologia for slavery. It’s a fraught topic and Eastman’s painting itself proved divisive when he unveiled it, as it inspired both pro- and anti- slavery factions to find support for their views in its imagery. My reading found that Johnson did not stoop to the racist stereotypes and caricatures so common in the art of that era, though the painting has overall tone of romanticization to it.

GF: How did you come to choose everyday objects as your primary subject matter?

RK: We learned oil painting in college by painting still life objects. We moved on to more difficult subjects like landscapes and figures, but my fascination remained with ordinary, unremarkable objects. Figures and landscapes are intrinsically interesting but to make a painting of unremarkable objects is, for me, far more interesting and challenging than painting a landscape or figure.

Going back again to my childhood: When I was ten years old, my family’s house burned down. We lost everything. I was given a lined sheet of paper and asked to list every single thing that was in my bedroom. I remember imagining single, isolated items against a white background so I could list everything. Most of my paintings are single objects I encounter in my house, removed from their domestic context and set, in isolation, against a white background. The painted objects are bathed in an illuminating light that is the opposite of the destructive light of fire. In most cases, the painted objects will far outlast the actual objects just as my paintings will far outlast me.

GF: The handling of the paint in your earlier works gives them a smoother finish, while your newer pieces have a more textured surface. Was that evolution a conscious choice on your part?

RK: The work of many representational artists gets looser over time as artists become more interested in painting and less interested in illusionism. In my case, the shift was abrupt. In graduate school, in response to criticism that my work was too traditional, I replaced all my sable brushes with rougher bristle brushes. The result was much thicker paint and visible brush strokes. This change in technique, as well as a change in subjects from more traditional motifs (vases) to objects that caught my eye because of their form (stripes) lends my paintings an abstract quality. They are really abstract paintings of light, color, pattern, and texture that I see in actual objects.

GF: The painting called Blue Stripes is the first work I have seen where the object being painted fills the canvas edge to edge, giving it an overall abstract feel because of the stripes? Tell us about how you came the decision to paint edge to edge.

RK: Like all my paintings, I paint things that somehow grab my eye. One day I was washing a shirt in a sink and was entranced by the pattern the stripes made in the water. Stripes are formal, precise, and structured, and yet these stripes folded and swirling in the water were chaotic. I chose not to paint the edge sink or the soap suds so the painting was less narrative (a shirt being washed in a sink) and more abstract (stripes).

GF: How do you see your paintings evolving in the future and are there any objects you have yet to paint that you are looking forward to putting on canvas?

RK: I have no idea how my work will evolve. My process is very spontaneous. I don’t agonize over what I am going to paint or why. I see something that I find visually interesting, wonder what it will look like as a painting, and try it. Working from a plan or toward a goal would be too boring and constrictive for me. And you have to have a lot of confidence in your plan to follow through with it. For me, confidence is the kiss of death. I never know what I’m doing and never feel like I am doing it well. The struggle is what keeps me painting.

Having said that, I do like paintings that walk the tightrope between realism and abstraction (like the painting of stripes mentioned above). I’ve done many paintings of books stacked or arranged in rows on tables. I’m thinking about books with no table or background: just a close-up of books in which the covers, spines, and pages fill the entire canvas and become stripes of color.

Stack of Books, 2024, oil on canvas, 30 1/4 x 24 1/4 inches

Blue and Gold (Stack of Books), 2024, oil on canvas, 24 x 20 inches

Blue Books, 2023, oil on canvas, 15 x 15 1/16 inches

Art Books, 2023, oil on canvas, 24 x 34 inches

Blue Stripes, 2023, oil on canvas, 42 x 56 inches

Red and Blue Books, 2024, oil on canvas, 20 x 24 inches

Art Books (for Wayne Thiebaud), 2021, oil on canvas, 20 x 33 inches

War and Peace, 2020, oil on canvas, 16 x 16 inches

Blue and Orange Stripes, 2019, oil on canvas, 26 x 41 inches

Red and Blue Books, 2021, oil on canvas, 20 x 24 inches

Stripes, 2022, oil on canvas, 56 x 42 inches

Row of Books, 2024, oil on canvas, 22 x 36 inches

Bleu et Jaune (Cinq Dictionnaires), 2021, oil on canvas, 24 x 20 inches

Born 1969 in Columbus, OH

Education

1998 MFA, Painting and Art History, Ohio University, Athens, OH

1993 BA, Painting, The Columbus College of Art and Design, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

Professional Experience

2022–present Visiting Assistant Professor of Fine Arts, Hampden-Sydney College, Farmville, VA

2019–2021

2009–2018

2007–2008

2007

2006

2002–2004

Adjunct Faculty, Advanced Degree Program, Concordia University Chicago, Chicago, IL

Adjunct Faculty, Department of Art, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN

Visiting Assistant Professor of Fine Arts, Hampden-Sydney College, Farmville, VA

Lecturer, Department of Fine Arts, Hampden-Sydney College, Farmville, VA

Lecturer, Department of Art, Longwood University, Farmville, VA

Lecturer, Department of Art, Lynchburg College, Lynchburg, VA

Visiting Assistant Professor of Art, Davidson College, Davidson, NC

2003 Lecturer, Hampden-Sydney College, Paris, France [May term]

2001–2002

2000–2001

Lecturer, Department of Art, Longwood University, Farmville, VA

Visiting Assistant Professor of Fine Arts, Hampden-Sydney College, Hampden-Sydney, VA

1997–1998 Instructor of Drawing, Foundations Department, and Teaching Associate, Department of Art History, Ohio University, Athens, OH

Selected Awards

2013 Award of Merit, National Small Works Juried Show, Todd Gallery, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN

2008 Professional Artist Fellowship, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA

2002 Faculty Research Grant, Davidson College, Davidson, NC

Professional Artist Fellowship, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Richmond, VA

2001 National Young Painters Competition, Second Place, Miami University, OH

1999 Mary Lou Chess Award, Ohio Art League, Columbus, OH

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2024 Ray Kleinlein: Recent Paintings, Paul Thiebaud Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2017 Paintings – An Introduction, Paul Thiebaud Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2016 The Eloquent Object, Southern Ohio Museum, Portsmouth, OH

2011 Painterly Still Lifes, Keny Galleries, Columbus, OH

Murfreesboro City Hall Rotunda, Murfreesboro, TN

1912 Gallery, Emory & Henry College, Emory, VA

2009 Recent Work, Keny Galleries, Columbus, OH

2008 Christa Faut Gallery, Cornelius, NC

2007 Perry Nicole Gallery, Memphis, TN

Esther Thomas Atkinson Museum, Hampden-Sydney, VA

2006 Keny Galleries, Columbus, OH

2005 Keny Galleries, Columbus, OH

RAY KLEINLEIN

2004

2002

Christa Faut Gallery, Cornelius, NC

Van Every Gallery, Davidson College, Davidson, NC

Keny Galleries, Columbus, OH

Smith Gallery, Davidson College, Davidson, NC

2001 Esther Thomas Atkinson Museum, Hampden-Sydney, VA

1998 Ohio University, Athens, OH

1997 Lisa Kurts Gallery, Memphis, TN

1994 Executive Gallery, Columbus, OH

Wile-Kovach Gallery, Columbus, OH

Selected Group Exhibitions

2022 Illusions from the CMA Collection: Seeing is Deceiving, Canton Museum of Art, Canton, OH

2019

Cumberland Gallery, Nashville, TN

Parker Art Gallery, Saint Simons Island, GA

Canton Museum of Art, Canton, OH

Keny Galleries, Columbus, OH

2018

Cumberland Gallery, Nashville, TN

2016 150 Years of Ohio Still Life Painting (1865–2015), Keny Galleries, Columbus, OH

Cumberland Gallery, Nashville, TN

Art Market San Francisco, San Francisco, CA

2015 Parker Gallery, Sea Island, GA

2014

Anne Neilson Fine Arts, Charlotte, NC

Cumberland Gallery, Nashville, TN

Anne Neilson Fine Arts, Charlotte, NC

Todd Gallery, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN

2013 Juried Show, Todd Gallery, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN

Summer Exhibition: Contemporary Artists, Keny Galleries, Columbus, OH

2012 Cumberland Gallery, Nashville, TN

2010

2009

2008

Longwood Center for the Visual Arts, Farmville, VA

Hampden-Sydney College, Hampden-Sydney, VA

2007 Longwood Center for the Visual Arts, Farmville, VA

2006

2005

2004

Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, TN

Esther Thomas Atkinson Museum, Hampden-Sydney, VA

Keny Galleries, Columbus, OH

Longwood Center for the Visual Arts, Farmville, VA

Keny Galleries, Columbus OH

Metrolina, Davidson, NC

1708 Gallery, Richmond, VA

Dairy Barn Art Center, Athens, OH

2003 Christa Faut Gallery, Cornelius, NC

2001 Juried Show, Hiestand Galleries, Miami University, Oxford, OH

Cox Fine Art Center, Columbus, OH

Bedford Gallery, Longwood College, Farmville, VA

2000

1708 Gallery, Richmond, VA

Juried Show, Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH

Keny Galleries, Columbus, OH

2000 Cultural Arts Center, Columbus, OH

1999

Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, TN

Mansfield Art Center, Mansfield, OH

Juried Show, Shot Tower Gallery, Columbus, OH

Selected Group Exhibitions

(cont.)

1999 Lisa Kurts Gallery, Memphis, TN

GSI Gallery, Cleveland, OH

1998 Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, TN Greer Museum, Rio Grande, OH

New American Paintings, “Catalog of the 17th Open Studios Competition,” Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH

1997 Juried Show, Bowery Gallery, New York, NY

Ohio Art League, Grange Building, Columbus, OH Motorist Building, Columbus, OH

Ohio University, Lancaster, OH

1995 Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH

Wile-Kovach Gallery, Columbus, OH

Executive Gallery, Columbus, OH

Publications and Reviews

2024 Block, Betty A. “Ray Kleinlein: Art and the Aesthetics of the Everyday”, Tennessee: LK Publishing, 2024.

2018 Archer, Mary Ann. Shared Imagination, Bloomington: Balboa Press, (cover image). Weals, Lucas. The Davidsonian, September 12, 2018 (reproduction).

2016 Shelton, Clark. Rutherford Source, June 1, 2016, (reproduction). Nashville Arts, December 2016, (reproduction). Ohio Magazine, August 2016, (reproduction).

2011 A!.Magazine for the Arts, April (reproduction).

2010 2010 South Atlantic Modern Language Association Conference Program (cover).

2009 Hall, Jacqueline. The Columbus Dispatch, March 12, 2009. Farmville Herald, January 9, 2009.

2007 The Hampden-Sydney Review of Poetry (front and back cover).

2006 Hall, Jacqueline. The Columbus Dispatch, November 12, 2006. Nichols, Ann. Chattanoga Times Free Press, November 12, 2006.

2005 The Journal (Ohio State University literary magazine, cover).

2004 Hall, Jacqueline. The Columbus Dispatch, July 11, 2004. Carolina Arts, October 4, 2008. Baldwin, Lindy. The Davidsonian, October 2, 2002. Hall, Jacqueline. The Columbus Dispatch, March 24, 2002. Mascal, Richard. The Charlotte Observer, September 9, 2002. Miami University Pacesetter, Vol. 10.

Puckett, Laura. Libertas, September 12, 2002.

2001 Hal, Jacqueline. The Columbus Dispatch, July 22, 2001. The Hampden-Sydney Review of Poetry (cover).

2000 The Garnet, Fall 2000. Hall, Jacqueline. The Columbus Dispatch Jerigan, Sarah. Southern Living, October. Kluth, Eric. News Journal, January 3, 2000.

1999 Hall, David. The Memphis Flyer, May 20, 1999.

1998 Hall, Jacqueline. The Columbus Dispatch, July 26, 1998. New American Paintings, August / September 1998.