VISIBLE | INVISIBLE 

Following a highly successful solo exhibition in 2024, showcasing a range of past work, Richard Bray returns to Cambridge's ArtSpace5-7 in June 2025 with a brand new body of work, further developing ideas and concepts he has been exploring for over 40 years.  As well as his signature, illusionary sculptures, this exhibition includes remarkable ink-drawings and a series of new paintings, once again astounding audiences with art that seems to defy gravity and ripple in space and time. As usual with his art, everything depends on the viewer's perspective and position in space, we experience Bray's work on our own terms, in a unique and personal way.

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Forever pushing the boundaries of what is possible with wood and in sculpture, Bray sets himself challenge upon challenge.'There must be a way that everything can be revealed', he reflects. In describing the gravity defying convex, concave and spear-shaped sculptures in this exhibition, he explains: "if you stop and look you realise some of the lines are so very thin, they are, at times, imperceptible, appearing and disappearing, even and uneven, light and dark. It is only by these working together, can they create an illusion of form and structure.' Each elegant line, beautifully crafted face and facet, interact with the space they inhabit. They are as dynamic as the light they reflect. Their qualities challenges our perception and pre-conceptions, they depend entirely on our perspective and position - appear and disappear as we move, are visible and invisible. 

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Bray's sculptures inhabit their space with a mixture of precision and precariousness, They embody both risk and uncertainty. They are tantalisingly ambiguous yet project  a harmonious, almost musical quality. His drawings offer a mesmerising  puzzle in how they were created - entirely by hand - while his paintings propose impossible structures to inhabit or imagine. No wonder that architects, as much as medics, entrepreneurs as well as academics are captivated by his art and ideas. 

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Bray explains that 'while both sculptures and drawings originate in the experimental setting of the workshop, once they are transported, they work in concert with their environment, where they are relatable to the human scale'. They must to be both contemplated and experienced.  

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As an early contributor to, and inspired by, the British Land Art movement, Bray's work is always site specific and seeks to interact with its natural, as well as architectural, context.  For example, in this exhibition, this is clearly demonstrated by the interplay of the naturally curved and twisted forms of three Acacia-tree sculptures which placed, seemingly at random, in the iconic Modernist curved windows of 5-7 Portugal Place and overlooking St. Clements churchyard.  

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Once again, a fruitful collaboration with the beautiful Church of St. Clement's, one of Cambridge's most historic buildings, nestled in an ancient site which dates back over a thousand years, reminds passers-by of the importance of green and contemplative spaces in a city centre. Here, a 'Trinity' of three, large wooden 'posts' in shades of black, white and natural wood, are juxtaposed with the wild churchyard garden. Similar to the smaller 'posts' exhibited inside ArtSpace5-7,  these large totemic sculptures contain a hidden twist at their core, which is only revealed from a particular perspective. As one visitor so aptly commented, in this case, "the secret inside can only be seen from the house of God." 

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Time spent in Tanzania in the 1980's with his wife, Joy, fundamentally transformed Bray's practice, informing his nuanced understanding of the relationship between art and the natural world as well as his life-ling commitment to working with ethically sourced, sustainable, and often local, wood. Re-discovered during the course of this current exhibition, some of Bray's earliest sketchbooks from the Tanzania period, provide a remarkable glimpse into the germination of his ideas, the incredible technical challenges faced transforming wood into seemingly impossible shapes and structure and the respect shown to working within nature and with natural materials. His work demonstrates a deep understanding of the fleeting qualities of art, and art in harmony with nature. 

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Born in London, Bray went on to study Photographic Arts at the Polytechnic of Central London (now, the University of Westminster) followed by an M.A. in Fine Art at Norwich School of Art and Design, eventually settling in Cambridgeshire. Bray has inspired generations of students and younger artists around the world in their craft and practice. Previously working as Tutor in Photography, Fine Art and Contextual Studies at Cambridge's School of Visual and Performing Arts from the 1990's until his retirement in 2021, he is currently  focussing exclusively on his own practice. In 2007, Bray was elected to the Royal Society of British Sculptors. Forever modest and committed to his craft,  perpetually curious and reflective, Bray's masterful artwork is held in important private and public collections including at the University of Cambridge, Jesus College and Clare Hall and has included significant public commissions since the 1990's, including for the Welcome Trust Genome Campus at Hinton and can be found in important private collections in Cambridgeshire, the East of England, UK, the USA, and internationally. He is available for commissions and a range of his new and most iconic works are available through ArtSpace5-7 in Cambridge, UK.

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Dr. Anna M. Dempster, 2025