Ellarslie Mansion - Trenton City Museum
Cadwalader Park 2018
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Masquerade oil on linen 80 x 70 - 2016
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INTRODUCTION
With a career spanning over 34 years Bray's artistic achievements place him alongside the most prominent painters in the region. His personal brand and transatlantic oeuvre is characterized as belonging to a branch of Abstract Expressionism. Bray however, goes beyond a simple definition and might be your best example of the 'energetic self-taught student - a student of his own making' who champions Pollock and de Kooning while seriously looking at Picasso. Continually striving and experimenting he seems determined to master the art of his own inventions using the basic tools of oil painting.
About Bray's art, in his essay "Northeast Corridor 2010" Harry Georgeson wrote:
"These are hard won compositions belying the apparent ease of disordered spontaneity. They transport us into a realm of emotion and underlying meaning touching on the eternally dramatic"
Gary Snyder writes in his foreword; "Going Down The Rabbit Hole - Scapa 2012"
"Malcolm has worked and worked and worked for many years, and his recent paintings, in my opinion, are not only his best but are better than many and most paintings that I see around me. I don't say this lightly and I wouldn't have said this so strongly a few years ago - I always liked Malcolm's work, and appreciated his direction and the struggle that was his art. But part of going down the rabbit hole is knowing and trusting that there are riches to be found if one keeps going, and Malcolm has hit gold of late."
In April 2004 Bray sold his antique pine furniture business in order to pursue his art career full-time.
Between April 2004 to December 2005, Bray worked steadily on a numbered series - Dimensional Space - a string of forty two paintings that carried an influence of Pollock. This discovery of 'space' became a spring board for a great deal of Bray's abstractions in years to come. In 2006 Bray found representation in New York at Cheryl Hazan in Tribeca. Three solo shows ensued between 2008, 2010 and 2012.
At the same time Bray was represented by Burnt Mills Gallery in Bernardsville, New Jersey.
Gallery owner and framer Bob Sullivan, engineered two very successful shows...
"Sporting a Wit Chandelier" and "Northeast Corridor" in 2009 and 2010.
Ruth Morpeth Gallery in Hopewell, New Jersey also carried Bray's work for approximately two years, 2008/9.
Spanierman Modern (New York) carried Bray's work between 2013 - 2015. Veteran art dealer Ira Spanierman retired after 60 years in the business at age 86. The midtown gallery located on West 55th Street subsequently closed.
In June 2016, Bray moved his studio to Hamilton NJ favoring the renovated industrial complex "Mill One" located a short distance from Grounds for Sculpture.
"The addition of an arts hub in Hamilton Township is a wonderful and natural extension of the arts corridor."__Seward Johnson. Artist and Founder of Grounds for Sculpture.
With a career spanning over 34 years Bray's artistic achievements place him alongside the most prominent painters in the region. His personal brand and transatlantic oeuvre is characterized as belonging to a branch of Abstract Expressionism. Bray however, goes beyond a simple definition and might be your best example of the 'energetic self-taught student - a student of his own making' who champions Pollock and de Kooning while seriously looking at Picasso. Continually striving and experimenting he seems determined to master the art of his own inventions using the basic tools of oil painting.
About Bray's art, in his essay "Northeast Corridor 2010" Harry Georgeson wrote:
"These are hard won compositions belying the apparent ease of disordered spontaneity. They transport us into a realm of emotion and underlying meaning touching on the eternally dramatic"
Gary Snyder writes in his foreword; "Going Down The Rabbit Hole - Scapa 2012"
"Malcolm has worked and worked and worked for many years, and his recent paintings, in my opinion, are not only his best but are better than many and most paintings that I see around me. I don't say this lightly and I wouldn't have said this so strongly a few years ago - I always liked Malcolm's work, and appreciated his direction and the struggle that was his art. But part of going down the rabbit hole is knowing and trusting that there are riches to be found if one keeps going, and Malcolm has hit gold of late."
In April 2004 Bray sold his antique pine furniture business in order to pursue his art career full-time.
Between April 2004 to December 2005, Bray worked steadily on a numbered series - Dimensional Space - a string of forty two paintings that carried an influence of Pollock. This discovery of 'space' became a spring board for a great deal of Bray's abstractions in years to come. In 2006 Bray found representation in New York at Cheryl Hazan in Tribeca. Three solo shows ensued between 2008, 2010 and 2012.
At the same time Bray was represented by Burnt Mills Gallery in Bernardsville, New Jersey.
Gallery owner and framer Bob Sullivan, engineered two very successful shows...
"Sporting a Wit Chandelier" and "Northeast Corridor" in 2009 and 2010.
Ruth Morpeth Gallery in Hopewell, New Jersey also carried Bray's work for approximately two years, 2008/9.
Spanierman Modern (New York) carried Bray's work between 2013 - 2015. Veteran art dealer Ira Spanierman retired after 60 years in the business at age 86. The midtown gallery located on West 55th Street subsequently closed.
In June 2016, Bray moved his studio to Hamilton NJ favoring the renovated industrial complex "Mill One" located a short distance from Grounds for Sculpture.
"The addition of an arts hub in Hamilton Township is a wonderful and natural extension of the arts corridor."__Seward Johnson. Artist and Founder of Grounds for Sculpture.
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