Michael Ray Charles

(American, born 1967)

Michael Ray Charles is a contemporary American painter. His work explores historic African American stereotypes from the Antebellum South, appropriating images from advertising and pop culture to expose the underlying racism prevalent in contemporary culture. Charles creates a mimetic vocabulary of cultural, racial, and historicized images to subvert those themes and explore surviving caricatures that continue to appear in popular media, such as Aunt Jemima or Sambo. “Stereotypes have evolved. I’m trying to deal with present and past stereotypes in the context of today’s society,” the artist has said. Born in Lafayette, LA in 1967, he went on to earn his BFA from McNeese State University and his MFA from the University of Houston. His work has been both critically celebrated and the source of controversy, and in 2001 Charles was the subject of an Art:21 short documentary. He was appointed as the Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished Professor of Painting in 2014 at the University of Houston's School of Art, and he has exhibited internationally, notably in the Austin Museum of Art, the Knox Art Gallery, and The Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Michael Ray Charles Artworks

Michael Ray Charles (107 results)
White Power, 1994

Michael Ray Charles

White Power, 1994

Sale Date: February 10, 2024

Auction Closed

Forever Free (Black Face)

Michael Ray Charles

Forever Free (Black Face)

Sale Date: November 14, 2023

Auction Closed

Forever Free, 1995

Michael Ray Charles

Forever Free, 1995

Sale Date: December 2, 2023

Auction Closed

I know why the caged bird sings (Forever Free), 1995

Michael Ray Charles

I know why the caged bird sings (Forever Free), 1995

Sale Date: December 2, 2023

Auction Closed

Forever Free, 1995

Michael Ray Charles

Forever Free, 1995

Sale Date: October 24, 2023

Auction Closed

Chaise

Michael Ray Charles

Chaise "Aluminium Chair EA117 Vitra"- modèle , 1958

Sale Date: October 12, 2023

Auction Closed

Fauteuil

Michael Ray Charles

Fauteuil "Soft Pad EA 217"- modèle créé en..., 1969

Sale Date: October 12, 2023

Auction Closed

Suite de trois chaises

Michael Ray Charles

Suite de trois chaises "Aluminium Group EA..., 1958

Sale Date: October 12, 2023

Auction Closed

Paire de chaises

Michael Ray Charles

Paire de chaises "EA 105"- modèle créé en 1958, 1958

Sale Date: October 12, 2023

Auction Closed

Chaise longue Soft Pad

Michael Ray Charles

Chaise longue Soft Pad "ES 106"- modèle créé , 1968

Sale Date: October 12, 2023

Auction Closed

AN EMINENT EVALUATION - FOREVER FREE, 1995, 1995

Michael Ray Charles

AN EMINENT EVALUATION - FOREVER FREE, 1995, 1995

Sale Date: September 28, 2023

Auction Closed

Havin' a Ball (Forever Free), 1995

Michael Ray Charles

Havin' a Ball (Forever Free), 1995

Sale Date: June 7, 2023

Auction Closed

Capable Shit Happens (Forever Free), 1995

Michael Ray Charles

Capable Shit Happens (Forever Free), 1995

Sale Date: June 7, 2023

Auction Closed

Forever Free (Gameboy), 1998

Michael Ray Charles

Forever Free (Gameboy), 1998

Sale Date: December 3, 2022

Auction Closed

Forever Free, 1995

Michael Ray Charles

Forever Free, 1995

Sale Date: December 3, 2022

Auction Closed