Ralph Pugay: A Spiritual Guide To Brute Force

Ralph Pugay’s paintings and works on paper have a Richard Scarry whimsy about them – until the blood flows. They repeat patterns and details with an intensity that belies their cartoonish forms. Crowds seem especially intriguing to Pugay. These works were created or conceived during a summer spent in artist residencies at the Joan Mitchell Center in New Orleans; the Rauschenberg Residency in Captiva, Florida; Atelier Circulaire in Montreal; and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.