Past Exhibitions > Ray Komai

Ray Komai
Ray Komai

RAY KOMAI
DESIGN FOR AMERICA

Exhibition on view
January 18–February 19, 2019

Reception at the gallery
Friday, January 25, 6:00–8:00 pm

Ildiko Butler Gallery
Fordham University at Lincoln Center
113 West 60th Street
New York, NY 10023

With radiant talent, determined industry, and a cheerful disposition, designer Ray Komai built an unusual career. After forced removal to Manzanar, the World War II incarceration camp for Japanese-Americans, the Los Angeles native designed notable furniture, textiles, and magazines in New York City in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. He left New York to design exhibitions and publications for the United States Information Service, promoting the country that had once put him behind barbed wire. Komai left behind beautiful work and a career that provides insights into design and nationalism.

image: Ray Komai, c. 1955
© ArtCenter College of Design, Pasasdena, CA

Sponsored by the Visual Arts Department, Fordham University