About the Artist

Darren Vigil Gray grew up among the mountains and mesas of Dulce, New Mexico on the Jicarilla Apache reservation. His father was the tribal chairman as well as a country western guitarist (performing in a band called the Apache Red Vests), rancher, and rodeo cowboy; his mother studied to be a coloratura soprano, and encouraged Gray and his brother to learn piano and drums. Music would always remain a part of his future, noting that "music and art are inextricably linked."

At age 15 he begged his mother to let him leave the reservation to attend Santa Fe’s Institute of American Indian Arts and graduated in 1977. He was exposed to the work of Fritz Scholder and T.C. Cannon, the latter of whom became Gray's mentor, who provided the young artist with a lifelong mantra: “create your own mythology.” He went on to study art at the College of Santa Fe (1978- 1979) and the University of New Mexico (1985-1986).

Gray has always been a dedicated musician, with such keen drumming skills that he has been invited to perform across parts of the country and abroad. This affinity between the visual and the aural has deepened his understanding of both genres while introducing him to many of the most gifted musicians of our time. Some four decades ago, he managed to arrange a meeting with the famed guitarist, songwriter, and producer, Robbie Robertson, at a Hamburger Hamlet in Brentwood. After sharing a few Coronas on a hot California day, they ventured to Gray’s powder-blue Toyota flatbed where he pulled out a few new paintings. Robertson was so impressed that he purchased one right there in the parking lot, and their lifelong friendship was born. Since then, his art has been highly prized by myriad guitarists, singers, and songwriters, many of whom have become not only collectors but devoted friends.

Gray has had numerous solo exhibitions, including Peyton Wright Gallery, Santa Fe; Keyes Fine Arts, Sag Harbor, New York; Wheelwright Museum, Santa Fe (including a 20 year retrospective in 2002); Orenda Art International, Paris, France; The Common Ground, New York, New York; and The Santa Fe Gallery, London, England, among others. He has participated in group exhibitions at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Avery Fisher Hall, New York City, New York; Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey; and the Musee de l'Homme, Paris, France.


Gray’s work is represented in the collections of numerous public and private institutions including the Denver Art Museum, CO; Tucson Museum of Art, AZ; Gilcrease Museum, OK; Bruce Museum, CT; Heard Museum, Phoenix,; The Wheelwright Museum, Santa Fe; National Museum of American Arts, Washington, D.C.; Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe; Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, New York, New York; Museum of the American West, Sun Valley, Idaho; Museum of Mankind, Vienna, Austria; Norman Mackenzie Museum, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan; and the Stamford Museum, Stamford, Connecticut, among others.

above source materials include personal interviews w/artist; Keyes Fine Arts, Sag Harbor, NY; others


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