In the new book Jem Southam takes the reader on a journey through the seven sheds in which for fifty years Ray Exworth relentlessly pursued his artistic vision. This vision was first inspired during a student field trip to Paris, when Ray entered the Rodin Museum and realised in a moment that he would spend the rest of his life working as a sculptor, that he was born to be a sculptor.
Steeped in the deep classical history of our sculptural heritage, Ray’s works search for the means to explore how ideas, thoughts and memories can find resonance and expression in marvellous and mischievous complex forms. Though a man who exuded a calm humorous presence, his wild and dark imagination is laid bare in the photographs Jem has been slowly making over the past ten years.
Much though is not revealed, it remains hidden, beyond the scrutiny of his camera. The sheds are so densely packed it is impossible to reach into the far corners, and there are only a few sketches indicating how the huge rambling sculptures were intended to be displayed, such a full understanding lived only in the dark halls of Ray’s sometimes troubled mind.