Ray Mead

Ray Mead, a pioneer of contemporary painting in Canada, was born in England in 1921. He immigrated to Canada after World War II and became a member of the Painters Eleven in 1953. He was one of the most extraverted of the group and was a purposeful painter with a sophisticated sense of composition. Meads canvases are typically bold, rich color fields with strategic placements of iconic or graphic imagery. Overall his works are both intensely revealing and aesthetically pleasing. He was a deep admirer of Franz Kline and Nicolas de Stael, but his best paintings have a personal and psychological impact of their own. His very distinct painting style continued throughout the next five decades. Ray Mead died in the fall of 1998.