November 2023 exhibition link
November 2019 exhibition link
Raymond Bonilla (American, 20th C.-) is a nationally recognized illustrator and fine artist. He was awarded Gold Medals in advertising from the Society of Illustrators, New York 55th Annual Exhibition in 2012 and The Society of Illustrators, Los Angeles, in 2012 and 2013. He was given the Award of Excellence in Advertising Illustration from Communication Arts Magazine in 2013 and 2014. Bonilla has exhibited his work in New York, Buffalo, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Denver, Kansas City, Park City, and Odessa, Texas. His work has been reviewed by Communication Arts Magazine, Arts on Art Magazine, The Public, and The Buffalo News. Bonilla earned a Bachelors of Fine Arts in New Media and Illustration from the State University in New York at Fredonia in 2005 and a Masters of Fine Art in 2009 from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. He currently lives in Buffalo, New York and teaches at the State University of New York at Fredonia. He is represented by Meibohm Fine Arts Gallery in East Aurora, NY, Resource Art in Buffalo, NY , Benjaman Gallery Group in Buffalo, NY, and the Abend Gallery in Denver, CO.
Artist Statement
“My interest in painting and animation lies in the role of an “illustrator as a visual journalist” and the subject of memory. While painting and animation have approaches and aesthetics that may be unique to themselves, at their core these disciplines both allow artists the ability to document the human experience. My art is rooted in the influences of impressionist painters, illustrators, and animators of the 19th and 20th centuries. In my work I use an artistic language that is deeply rooted in the visual vocabulary of figurative and abstract art of the past. From these, I take the traditional artistic tools of color and form, which allow me to immerse viewers in my pictures, allowing those viewers to appreciate my work both for its literal and abstract qualities. I strive to create art that records my observation of the world around me, whether it be a direct observation or a statement of internal reflection. Ultimately, I seek to make work that is a "visual journal" of the human condition.”
Clients
Netflix
The National Labor Federation
SAVUER Magazine
Cruising World Magazine
The New Yorker Magazine
Fantasy Flight Games
SUNY Fredonia
Small Business Index Magazine
Uncle Nearest Whiskey
Felony and Mayhem
Selected Exhibitions
2019
Solo Exhibition: Epílogos Privados / Private Epilogues, Meibohm Fine Arts, East Aurora, NY.
5x5 project, Abend Gallery, CO.
Horizons, Abend Gallery, CO.
29th Annual MINI SHOW, Abend Gallery, CO.
2018
28th Annual MINI SHOW, Abend Gallery, CO.
Ray Bonilla Lights Up!, Resource Art, Buffalo, NY.
Bonilla: Process Work, ART LAB Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA.
Summer Show: The Corridors Gallery at Hotel Henry, Resource Art, Buffalo, NY.
Summer Salon, Meibohm Fine Arts, East Aurora, NY.
2017
Art Invasion House Party IV, Resource Art, Buffalo, NY.
Art Invasion House Party III, Resource Art, Buffalo, NY.
Raymond Bonilla: Recent Works, Fredonia Incubator Gallery, Dunkirk, NY.
2016
Observed and Imagined, Meibohm Fine Arts, East Aurora, NY.
Artist to Artist, Benjaman Gallery Group, Buffalo, NY.
2015
Society of Illustrators New York 57th Annual Exhibition, New York, NY.
Society of Illustrators Los Angeles 53rd Annual Exhibition, Los Angeles, CA .
The Ridge, Meibohm Fine Arts, East Aurora, NY.
2013
Society of Illustrators New York 55th Annual Exhibition, New York, NY.
Society of Illustrators Los Angeles 51st Annual Exhibition, Los Angeles, CA.
2012
Illustrators West 50th Annual Exhibition, Los Angeles, CA.
2011
Delicious, Studio Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
2010
Tiny, Studio Gallery, San Francisco, CA Mirror MIrror, Meyer Gallery, Park City, UT.
2009
Tiny, Studio Gallery, San Francisco, CA. Portrait Invitational Exhibition, Blue Gallery, Kansas City, MO. Requiem,Gallery 688, San Francisco, CA.
Honors and Awards
2019
Award of Excellence in Advertising Illustration, Society of Illustrators Los Angeles 57th Annual Exhibition.
2014
Award of Excellence in Advertising Illustration, Communication Arts Annual Illustration Competition Award of Excellence in Advertising. Illustration, Communication Arts Annual Illustration Competition Award of Excellence in Editorial Illustration, Communication Arts Annual. Illustration Competition Honorable Mention, Society of Illustrators Los Angeles 54th Annual Exhibition.
2013
Gold Medal, Society of Illustrators Los Angeles 52nd Annual Exhibition.
Bronze Medal, Society of Illustrators Los Angeles 52nd Annual Exhibition.
Honorable Mention, Society of Illustrators Los Angeles 53rd Annual Exhibition.
Award of Excellence in Advertising Illustration, Communication Arts Annual Illustration Competition.
2012
Gold Medal, Society of Illustrators New York 55th Annual Exhibition.
Gold Medal, Society of Illustrators Los Angeles 51st Annual Exhibition.
Publications
2016
Centerfold: Twinbrook Station on the Red Line, The Public, September 28th, 2016.
In Art Galleries this Fall, The Public, September 14th, 2016.
Features: Raymond Bonilla, Communication Arts Magazine, July/August 2016.
Two-person exhibit at Meibohm blurs observation, imagination, Buffalo News, September 15th, 2016
April 20th, 2016
Artists Seen: Raymond Bonilla, The Public, April 20th, 2016
2015
Stirring Memory, Artists on Art Magazine, Fall 2015
Museum Collections
Ellen Noel Art Museum of the Permian Basin, Odessa, TX
Artist’s Website: raymondbonilla.com
(Source: The artist's website.)
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