Thomas Ray Willis
Broom, 2013
Canvas, wood, acrylic gesso, metal staples
Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art Museum
Gift of the artist
2017.30.006

Raised in Las Vegas and currently living and working in New York City, Thomas Ray Willis teases the imagined boundaries between fine art and the quotidian world by transforming traditional art materials into household items such as mallets, beds, flower pots, and—during his 2015 residency at the Cosmopolitan’s P3 Studios—boutique bags and belts. His work has appeared at deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, MA; Dorchester Art Project, MA; Socrates Sculpture Park, NY; and various Las Vegas galleries including the Contemporary Art Center and Trifecta. UNLV BFA 2009

In 1917, Marcel Duchamp’s Urinal inaugurated the idea that everyday objects could become art. A century later, Willis picks up a canvas and tests out the transformation in reverse.