Michael Ray Charles: An American Artist's Work 1989-1997

Houston: Bigsby Design and Blaffer Gallery, 1997. First Edition. First Printing. Folio (66cm); pictorial wrappers; full colour illustrations, folded as issued; 18pp. including covers; light horizontal fold to book and wrapper, A Near Fine copy that includes the illustrated "potato-sack" dust wrapper, also in Near Fine condition but lacking the artist's signature copper penny.

From the exhibition held at the Blaffer Gallery, the art museum at the University of Houston, June 7- August 31, 1997.

Charles' reinterpretations of Norman Rockwell's Saturday Evening Post covers, circus posters, and advertisements use humor and word play to twist racial and racist stereotypes. The artist's images of mammies, Sambos, and jesters subvert the original (often overtly pejorative) intent on these figures. He adopts and recontextualizes these images and uses layers of puns and word play to address issues of race and bigotry. (blafferartmuseum.org)

"And I think there's a fine line between perpetuating something and questioning something. I like to get as close to it as possible in order, I guess, to create that tension, to evoke thought and to have people question how they deal with these images." (Michael Ray Charles, Art21.com).