Overview
Marcos Raya is a Chicago-based artist whose work spans painting, collage, installation, murals, art objects and video. His work combines Mexican cultural references, surrealism, Chicago visual culture and recurring themes around technology, politics and urban life.
The website needed to present a very large body of work while keeping the artwork, rather than the interface, at the center of the experience.
The Work
I structured the site around clear visual categories including Art Object, Painting, Installation, Mictlan, Collage, Murals, Video and News.
The challenge was less about adding complexity and more about organizing a large archive into something visitors could move through quickly. The design stays intentionally restrained so the artwork carries the visual weight, while the navigation makes it possible to move between very different bodies of work without losing context.
The site also provides room for ongoing updates and exhibition news, including recent coverage of Raya’s Frida the Last Portrait appearing at Tate Modern as part of Frida: The Making of an Icon.
Result
The finished site works as both an artist portfolio and a growing digital archive. Visitors can move directly into individual bodies of work, while new exhibitions, articles and video can continue to be added without redesigning the overall structure.
I am very proud to have this website as part of my portfolio. Marcos Raya is an artist that emerged from the Chicano movement from the 70’s in Pilsen but that has evolved with time and some might say beyond his time with his techno fetishistic style that so identifies him.
Also this is one of my favorite website because it was designed from scratch with the only goal in mind to showcase his work in the cleanest way possible with no other design elements than the 2 actual font faces used. Well not completely true, the galleries all have different layouts and sizes and effects.
What I like best is the platform, I created this on my own IMXPRS website builder which is a breeze to maintain.
