Manitou Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
June 11-July 3
Ray Roberts, Desert View, oil, 30 x 40.
For the first few decades of his fine-art career, Ray Roberts was well-known for his paintings of the California coast and the southwestern landscape. Before that he worked in illustration for 12 years, while always making time to paint portraits and figures—a particular passion of his—on the side. For the past 15 or so years now, Roberts has been creating paintings that bring together all of his professional experience and aesthetic interests: the Navajo people and their colorful, intricate weavings set against the stark tonality of southwestern terrain.
Approximately a dozen of Roberts’ latest works are on view at Manitou Galleries on Canyon Road in Santa Fe this June. To complement the paintings, the gallery is showing up to 10 Navajo rugs and blankets, which are also for sale. An all-day opening reception for the show is planned for Friday, June 11. “We have always loved the textiles Ray pairs with his models,” says Cyndi Hall, the gallery’s associate director. “Ray uses Diné models and authentic Navajo weavings to pay homage to these people and their environment. We felt an exhibition showcasing both his paintings and the weavings would highlight the importance of both in the community.”
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- Ray Roberts, Transitional Revisited, oil, 40 x 30.
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- Ray Roberts, Shandiin, oil, 16 x 12.
Roberts’ interest in the Navajo, or Diné, people first took shape during his high-school years, when he attended boarding school in Arizona and took his first anthropology class. “Several of the digs were in northern Arizona, and that was when I was first introduced to the culture of the Navajo people,” he recalls. “There was just something beautiful about the geometry and design of their weavings, pottery, and surrounding landscape that made a lasting impression on me.”
Later in life, when Roberts and his wife, artist Peggi Kroll Roberts, were teaching frequently at the Scottsdale Artists’ School, he befriended a student and her family who were of Navajo descent. Visits to their Arizona property prompted several paintings and photo shoots with the student’s granddaughter, who is one of the main models for the paintings in the show and whom Roberts has known since she was a baby. This ongoing friendship, along with access to authentic Navajo weavings from art dealer Mark Sublette of Medicine Man Gallery, allowed Roberts to find his signature subject matter.
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- Ray Roberts, High Desert Warmth, oil, 12 x 16.
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- Ray Roberts, High Desert Color, oil, 24 x 36.
Roberts says that it is often the sheer beauty of what he observes that inspires him to paint. “I am just fascinated with the imagery,” he says. “The colors, patterns, shapes, textures, and details that make these people, their belongings, and their surroundings so compelling.” In a painting such as HIGH DESERT COLOR—a work the artist claims is one of the few in which the design flowed easily—it’s easy to see what draws Roberts’ eye to the visually enticing elements of these vistas.
Aesthetics is not the only reason Roberts paints the Navajo people and their environs, however. Honoring their cultural history, specifically the craftsmanship of their works of art, is also important. Putting their talent on full display by featuring a figure wearing blankets and jewelry, Roberts brings awareness and appreciation to the artistic legacy of these indigenous people. –Allison Malafronte
contact information
505.986.0440
www.manitougalleries.com
This story appeared in the June/July 2021 issue of Southwest Art magazine.