BLACKSBURG, VA.- Kass has an extensive record of national and international exhibitions. His work, which has influenced generations of artists, is being featured in exhibitions at the Moss Arts Center, Perspective Gallery, and Armory Gallery.
Recognized nationally and internationally for his evocative abstract landscapes and unique approach to materials and techniques, prominent Virginia-based artist Ray Kass is celebrated with a university-wide series of exhibitions that showcase work from his exemplary career.
The art featured in the exhibitions range from examples of his early foundational works, silk collages, and signature polyptych, multipanel works, to his most recent still life paintings. Together, these works on view represent highlights from what has been a prolific, ever-evolving, and accomplished career.
Kass, professor emeritus of art in
Virginia Tech’s School of Visual Art in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies with an extensive record of national and international exhibitions, will be featured in three exhibitions on the Virginia Tech campus – at the Moss Arts Center, Armory Gallery, and Perspective Gallery – beginning in January.
“Kass is known not only for the quality and breadth of his art but as a pivotal figure in the region,” says Margo Ann Crutchfield, the Moss Arts Center’s curator at large.
In addition to his thriving studio practice, Kass is the founder and director of the Mountain Lake Workshop, a series of collaborative, community-based art projects drawing on the customs and resources of the Appalachian region. Over the years the program has produced collaborative works between guest artists and members of the local community surrounding Mountain Lake in Giles County. The Mountain Lake Workshop has drawn art-world luminaries to the area, including Clement Greenberg, Donald B. Kuspit, and John Cage, and has influenced generations of artists in Virginia and the southeast.
“I curated one of Ray’s first one-person museum exhibitions over 30 years ago at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, so I feel this is a very full-circle and especially rewarding experience for me,” explains Crutchfield, who began working on the current exhibition over a year ago. “Ray is an outstanding artist, right here in our midst, whose impact has been nothing short of remarkable.”
Kass’ work has been featured in 40 one-person exhibitions and over 50 group exhibitions, and is included in numerous public institution and private collections. He is represented by Reynolds Gallery in Richmond, Virginia, and Gravey/Simon in New York City.
Born in Rockville Centre, New York, Kass became an art professor at Virginia Tech in 1977 and was honored with emeritus status in 2003. He lives in Ellett Valley, located outside of Blacksburg, Virginia.
