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        Raymond John Mead was a trailblazer for establishing abstract painting in Canada and was well-known for his playful, yet dramatic compositions of line, shape, and colour on canvases. While growing up in a small community in Watford, England during the 1920s, Mead’s appreciation and interest for the visual arts were deeply supported and fueled by his grandmother.  After graduating in 1939, Mead joined the Royal Air Force. Two years later, he was stationed in Hamilton, Ontario and then later New York where he was exposed to the emergence of abstract art. 

        In 1946, Mead returned to Hamilton and had his first public exhibition. Then in 1953, Mead and seven other OSA artists were sponsored by Simpson’s Department store in Toronto to exhibit a show of non-objective art called Abstracts at Home. The members in the group show would go on to form the Painters Eleven, a collective that would challenge the traditional landscape paintings of the past and establish a new identity for modern art in Canada. 
       
        After seven years of being a part of the abstract group, Mead decided to forge his own path and relocated to Montreal where he worked as an art director for an advertising company. During the 1960s, he gained the opportunity to have solo shows in Montreal, Hamilton and Toronto. 
       
        Towards the end of his career, Mead moved back to Toronto, participated in many solo and group exhibitions, and was represented by the Christopher Cutts Gallery until he passed away in 1998. Due to his national reputation as one of the innovators of Canadian abstract painting, Mead’s artworks have been collected in numerous public art galleries across Canada including the Art Gallery of Algoma, the Art Gallery of Ontario and the National Gallery of Canada. 

        Ray Mead’s artistic inspiration began at a young age. Mead would often study his grandmother’s art collection and they would frequently visit art museums. This sparked Mead's curiosity, as his grandmother would talk to him about all the works and their histories. His uncle, an amateur painter, began to teach Mead how to paint when he was ten.

        Mead continued to pursue his art studies at the Slade School of Art in London. There he was introduced to English artists whose works focused on precision and technical skill; this likely accounted for the restraint in his early works. After graduating and spending some time serving in the military, Mead visited New York, where he was exposed to the emergence of abstract art. This had a profound impact on the way he viewed art, technique, and style.

        Mead began exhibiting his works publicly in 1948 and became more involved in other exhibitions and artists groups. His early abstract work, of the ’50s, was still more structured in their compositions. These were quite different from the American abstract he was inspired by, often still reflecting shapes and colours of landscapes or still lifes.

        From the ’70s to the '90s Mead moved from working in oils to creating large abstracts in acrylic paint. There was still a formal approach to his works, being precise and deliberate. Though, now his works featured a sense of fluidity and looseness that he had previously lacked. During that time, specifically in the early 1970s, Ray Mead decided to step away from painting to focus on drawing and photography. It was not long until he was drawn back to it after another visit to New York.

Mead, Ray (British Canadian, 1921-1998). The Seal, 1980 Acrylic on Canvas 161.925 x 194.945. Collection of the Art Gallery of Algoma; Gift of Dr. John Honey

Mead, Ray (British Canadian, 1921-1998). Poet #3, 1987 Acrylic on Canvas 155.575 x 104.775. Collection of the Art Gallery of Algoma; Gift of Dr. John Honey

GET INSPIRED

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Get Inspired by Abstraction

Try this creative activity based on the artwork! 

Ray Mead’s The Seal from The Art Gallery of Algoma’s permanent collection, is an excellent example of the playful yet dramatic compositions of shape and colour the Meads work often depicts. Try your hand at creating a beautiful abstract composition using bold colours and the shapes around you!

SUPPLIES

• Paint (you can try this activity with markers, crayons or pencil crayon but paint is the easiest and will create bolder colours)
  
• Canvas or Paper
  
• Paintbrushes
  
• Water & Rags
  
• Pencil
  

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Gather all the materials you’ll need and set up a comfortable area to work. 
2. Start by choosing a base colour for your painting,  Take your paper or canvas and paint your entire background one colour. Make sure the background has good coverage and let it dry completely before moving to the next step.
3. Look around you to find an item with an interesting shape. The shape can be more natural or geometric, it’s up to you.
4. Before painting the shape of the item onto your canvas take some time to think about your shape. Whether it’s a natural or more geometric shape, think about how can you simplify it but still give the idea of the shape. You can practice simplifying your shape until your happy with a pencil on a scrap piece of paper.
5. Once you’re happy with your shape, choose a bright, contrasting or complementary colour to paint your simplified shape onto your background. Make sure you let each section of your painting dry completely before you continue. Contrasting or Complimentary colours are colours that sit across from each other on the colour wheel for example red and green, yellow and purple, or blue and orange!
6. Choose another colour and organic shape or simplify your current shape even more, and paint it on top of your previous layer! Don’t be afraid to overlap your shapes or to paint directly on top of what you’ve previously painted. 
7. You can finish there or continue to experiment with different shapes, sizes, line thickness and colours on the same work or create new works to experiment with more colours and compositions.​

Don’t forget, there are no mistakes in art! Be bold and have fun!

Share your inspired work with us!

Send us an e-mail with your name, photo of your work and the activity it was inspired by and it could be posted on our website!
Please be aware that whatever is posted is widely accessible. The AGA is not responsible for the copyright and has no control of what people will do with the posts. 

Please send you submission to: [email protected]

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