Happy Heavenly Birthday to Man Ray (1890-1976), the pioneer of visual art and “found objects.” He was born in American but spent most of his career in Paris, becoming an informal contributor to the Dada and Surrealist movements surrounding him. His career intersected with Salvador Dali, Marcel Duchamp, Pablo Picasso, and a hit list of actors, artists, dancers, filmmakers, and musicians. Despite Ray tagging himself as “just a painter,” he produced major works in a variety of media and is best known for his pioneering photography—specially fashion and portrait photography. He is also noted for his work with photograms (photographic images made not with a camera but with light exposure) which he called “Rayographs.” In the 1920s he directed and appeared in a number of avant-garde films, including the 1924 urban fantasy ENTR’ACTE (directed by René Clair). Ray appears with Frances Picabia, playing chess on a chessboard that transforms into a city center with busses and cars. I used this scene in a video for my song “It’s In Your Hands,” with music that quotes heavily from Erik Satie (who also appeared in ENTR’ACTE). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxReq4Xr-U8 Meanwhile, thank you Man for getting us to see the art in everything.
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