Ray Ciarrocchi
Arizona Memories:
Paintings of the
Sonoran Desert

Discovering the desert was for me an extraordinary, visual experience. I found what seemed to be an endless space of golden mornings and more than vivid sunsets. A beautiful place, but also a land of dangerous, cruel heat. What would seem to be a colorless expanse of sand and rock was upon close and extensive study, rich in contrasting color tonalities. A landscape which does not reveal its visual qualities easily but when it does the rewards for painting are infinite.

Ray Ciarrocchi is a New York based figurative painter. Ciarrocchi has presented numerous solo exhibitions in New York, additional US cities and Italy as well as dozens of group exhibitions in varied locations and venues. His paintings, watercolors, drawings and monotypes are in many museum and private collections both nationally and abroad. He is married to painter Sandra Caplan. Their daughter Maya Ciarrocchi is a video artist.

Westbeth’s programming is made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State. Westbeth is supported in part by an American Rescue Plan Act grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to support general operating expenses in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.