RALPH PUGAY
Ralph Pugay (b. 1983 in Cavite, Philippines) creates colorful, narrative paintings that juxtapose cultural norms and ideas. At once playful and unsettling, Pugay says, “A lot of them are of situations where there's perversity or something catastrophic happening, but I see them as allegories for general questions about consciousness and life."
Ralph Pugay holds an MFA in Contemporary Art Practice from Portland State University and is a residency graduate from the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine. Other residencies include the Rauschenberg Foundation at Captiva Island and the Joan Mitchell Foundation in New Orleans. Pugay’s awards include a Ford Family Foundation Rauschenberg Fellowship, Betty Bowen Award from the Seattle Art Museum, Oregon Arts Commission Fellowship and Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Award. Notable solo exhibitions were held at the Seattle Art Museum, Upfor, Vox Populi and FAB Gallery (Richmond, VA), among others. Formerly a visiting faculty member at Virginia Commonwealth University, he was recently appointed the James DePriest Visiting Professor of Art at Portland State University. In early 2019, Pugay co-organized Schemers, Scammers and Subverters Symposium, funded in part through a Precipice Fund Grant.