5 Things You Didn’t Know About Man Ray
Man Ray is an undeniable icon of the 20th century art world, his seductive, doleful artworks perfectly captured the absurdity of the postwar era. Often described as the chameleon of the art world, Man Ray possessed an unparalleled ability to adapt to whatever medium he chose, mastering painting, photography, sculpture, printmaking, filmmaking and even poetry.
His quirky persona and innate talent saw him quickly accepted into exclusive social circles, dipping his pen/brush/photographic paper into a range of styles including Cubism, Futurism, Surrealism and Dada.
On what would have been his 130th birthday, here are five things to know about the dad of Dada…
1. Man Ray wasn’t actually his real name.
The name itself is surreal, fooling many into thinking the artist was literally born to be a part of this movement. Ray’s name change, however, isn’t entirely to rebrand himself as an artist, but to avoid the rampant threat of anti-semitism. Born into a Russian-Jewish immigrant family as Emmanuel Radnitzky, his family decided it would be safer if the artist were to go by ‘Emmanuel Ray.’ The first name ‘Man’ was the result of his nickname, ‘Manny’ being shortened to ‘Man’, and not a heteronormative proclaimation of his gender.
2. He made camera-less photographs
This discovery actually happened by accident while exploring how to take photos without a camera (as you do). Ray would place objects over light-sensitive paper and hold them up to light which would result in strange renderings of figures. These figures were then developed into his self-titled ‘Rayographs’…
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