Raleigh artist’s ‘feast of color’ featured at Pittman Gallery

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April 10, 2009

For The Daily Southerner The Daily Southerner Fri Apr 10, 2009, 11:45 AM EDT

Eric McRay’s works will be featured in the Hobson Pittman Gallery at the Blount-Bridgers House today through May 31.

His work has been defined as that of a contemporary modernist, an impressionist, among others, but for certain, “it’s a feast of color,” says Edgecombe County Cultural Arts Council Director Buddy Hooks. “The pieces selected for this exhibit show his distinctive painting style that will open your eyes to the brilliant color all around us.”

The arts council will host an informal reception for the artist in the gallery on Thursday, April 30 at 5:30 p.m.

“There were several conflicts with other events around town to hold an opening reception at the beginning of the exhibit,” explained Hooks.

McRay is an original. He is neither the starving artist type, nor the flamboyant profiteering commercial artist. McRay is a serious artist and doesn’t like cliché-like labels. According to Hooks, who has had a chance to get to know the artist over the past several months, “He comes across as an extraordinary gentleman with the heart of an adventurer, but “he’s certainly no bohemian!"

You can tell that McRay truly believes in himself and has struggled throughout his career to successfully achieve a high level of technical proficiency, pictorial intelligence and a sense of artistic legacy. The explorations across this state and its scenic coast and tranquil rural settings have provided him with the subject matter to assist him in that quest.

"I see art as a journey, a march, an exploration," McRay said. " I don't see it as a comfy Sunday afternoon endeavor."

Devoting himself full time to his art, he keeps a daily studio work schedule, where he produces vivid landscapes and coastal scenes on large canvases. A visit to his studio reveals his broad range of interests, yet for Tarboro’s exhibit he has focused on the familiar places found in Eastern North Carolina. He lives near Raleigh and vacations along the Carolina coast with his young family.

McRay earned a bachelor'so f fine arts degree at the Maryland Institute, College of Art, where he received a four-year scholarship. In 1998, he was juried into downtown Raleigh’s prestigious Artspace.

Eric has served as vice president and president of the Artspace Artists Association, as well as serving on Artspace’s board of directors.

McRay has been featured on television and radio, and in numerous newspapers and magazines. The Raleigh News & Observer named him one of the “Artists to Watch” for 2001. He was featured in the June 2002 issue of Southern Living magazine. In 2008, McRay was anointed by Metro Magazine, "Best Local Artist." McRay has consistently participated in and supported many charitable art exhibits and other community art events.

Some of McRay’s collectors include First South Bank, American Tobacco Campus, Duke University Medical Center, N.C. State University, UNC Chapel Hill, SAS Institute, NCCU Art Museum, Duke Eye Cente, and Western Wake Hospital, as well as many private collectors locally, nationally and internationally.

The Hobson Pittman Memorial Gallery will feature this exhibit through May 31. The gallery is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. and on Sunday from 2 until 4 p.m. His works are for sale at a price range of $500 to $3,500.

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