22 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY OCTOBER 15-21, 2026 www.montereycountynow.com a reading of his work, or of any artist’s work.” That same instinct toward accessibility ran through Ray’s long career designing book jackets, developed with editor Amy Scholder, whom he met through San Francisco’s City Lights scene. The covers on view include work for the philosopher Georges Bataille or Valerie Solanas, infamous for shooting Andy Warhol, alongside a jacket for the New York poet John Giorno. “These were high-risk publications,” Payton says of the era’s smallpress literary underground. The same sensitivity carried into concert posters on loan from a past show Payton organized with the LGBTQ+ Historical Society: five different Bowie concert bills, plus posters for Radiohead, Björk, and Cyndi Lauper, among many others. “What I find beautiful about them is Rex’s sensitivity to the artist in the typography and the choices he made,” Payton says, adding that Ray was also among the first designers to work digitally. Ray designed album covers today seen as iconic (notably Reality by David Bowie), as well as highly customized tour posters for performers such as Radiohead or Paul McCartney, and worked with labels such as Sony Music and Warner Brothers. The exhibition’s title, We Are All Made of Light, comes from one of Ray’s own holiday cards, a phrase he sent to friends for years. It’s a fitting frame for an artist whose working life resists easy separation from his personal one—a point underscored by 2009 footage shot by Colorado public broadcaster PBS12, not aired until 2018, in which Ray describes his process against the two places that shaped him: the Colorado Springs suburbs of his childhood and the San Francisco he moved to in the early 1980s to attend art school, and never really left. “He was very Warholian in that he wanted everybody to have his work, so he was very generous, and there’s a lot of his work out there,” Payton says. In the museum shop, that dual identity is for sale in miniature: a T-shirt reading “We Are All Made of Light,” a reprint of the exhibition’s catalogue of the same name, greeting cards that have already sold out, books and puzzles. The museum has even built a Spotify playlist of the musicians whose album art and posters Ray designed. Rex Ray: We Are All Made of Light is on display until Jan. 17 at Monterey Museum of Art, 559 Pacific St., Monterey. $15; free/children, students, military, members, SNAP participants with EBT card. (831) 372-5477, montereyart.org. DANIEL DREIFUSS We Are All Made of Light is the first retrospective exhibit of Ray’s work, on display at the Monterey Museum of Art until Jan. 17, 2027. “THEY’RE MEANT TO RESONATE LIKE SOUND.” Early bird discount until Nov. 1 Photos by DMT Photography Add some Monterey Magic to your Christmas! Immerse yourself in the tradition of early Monterey as the city’s historic adobes glow with the warmth of luminarias, holiday décor, festive music and refreshments. Celebrate the season, connect with the community, and create lasting memories with this one-of-a-kind event that brings the spirit of early days to life. 42ND Annual C H R I S T M A S in the ADOBES | December 11 & 12, 2026 | Tickets at MSHPA.org
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