Ray Johnson

Ray Edward Johnson (1927- 1995) was a seminal figure of the Pop Art movement. Primarily a collage artist, Johnson was also an early performance and conceptual artist. Once called “New York’s most famous unknown artist", he is considered the “Founding Father of Mail Art" and pioneered the incorporation and use of language in the visual arts. Born in Detroit, Michigan, on October 16, 1927, Johnson attended Cass Technical High School, an occupationa... more

Ray Edward Johnson (1927- 1995) was a seminal figure of the Pop Art movement. Primarily a collage artist, Johnson was also an early performance and conceptual artist. Once called “New York’s most famous unknown artist", he is considered the “Founding Father of Mail Art" and pioneered the incorporation and use of language in the visual arts. Born in Detroit, Michigan, on October 16, 1927, Johnson attended Cass Technical High School, an occupational school, where he enrolled in the Advertising Art Program. From 1945-1948, Johnson attended Black Mountain College, a progressive school in North Carolina, where he studied painting under Josef and Anni Albers and Robert Motherwell. While at Black Mountain, he also studied with and worked alongside many important figures of the avant-garde, including Willem and Elaine de Kooning, John Cage, Merce Cunningham, and Richard Lippold. In 1948, Johnson moved to New York, where he joined the downtown art scene, befriending Andy Warhol, Robert... less