Background
Ralph Goings was born on March 9, 1928 in Corning, California, United States. He was a son of Ralph Goings and Lucille Goings.
5212 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94618, United States
California College of the Arts
6000 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95819, United States
California State University
411 Central Avenue Salinas, CA. 93901, United States
Hartnell College
Ralph Goings was born on March 9, 1928 in Corning, California, United States. He was a son of Ralph Goings and Lucille Goings.
After military service during World War II, Ralph studied at Hartnell College in Salinas, California. There, he met two people, that changed his life. Those were Leon Amyx, a watercolorist, and Shanna Powell, who would later become his wife and the love of his life. Leon Amyx became somewhat of a mentor to Ralph and helped him to begin thinking of himself as an artist.
In 1953, Goings received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the California College of the Arts in Oakland, where Nathan Oliveira was one of his mentors. Some time later, he continued his studies at Sacramento State College (present-day California State University, Sacramento), graduating with Master of Fine Arts degree in 1965.
After studies, Goings was appointed a high school teacher. He taught both art and music. While his intentions were to pursue a career as a full-time artist, by that time he had a family to support, so he chose pragmatism over artistic ambition. Some time later, Goings relocated to Sacramento, California, in order to connect with the thriving art scene there, transferring to a new high school to continue teaching.
In 1969, Goings held his first solo exhibition at Ivan Karp's OK Harris Gallery in SoHo, New York.
Also, in his early works, he used images from magazines to inform his art. After culling thousands of images from magazines in search of the desired imagery, Goings decided to photograph his own source material. His move to New York State in 1974 focused his energies on depicting the interiors of diners. These intimate views of architecture and gleaming stainless steel stand in contrast to his earlier West Coast depictions of bright, exterior space.
Since the mid-1980's onward, Ralph lived and worked both in upstate New York and a second house in Santa Cruz, California.
Fresh Daily
Village Cafe
Pepper Shaker - Blue
Vanilla
McDonalds Pickup
Three on a Plate
Chocolate Lean
Nude (Sunburned Backside)
Booth Group
Diner
Sauces
Golden Dodge
Creamer
Flowered Table Top
Giorgio's Table
Tux
Sugar Dispenser 1989
Sugar Dispenser (Front View)
Blue Napkin Holder
American Salad
Still Life With Peppers
Coffee and Donut
Ralph's Diner
Two Chocolate
Sweet'n Low
Relish
Untitled
On the Edge
Chocolate on Top
Rainbow
Still Life with Mirror
Five Spot Still Life
Quotations:
"My paintings are about light, about the way things look in their environment and especially about how things look painted. Form, color and space are at the whim of reality, their discovery and organization is the assignment of the realist painter."
"I thought, enough of this, I'm not an abstract painter, what the hell am I going to do? Should I get a job in a shoe store, sell real estate, or what? I was really depressed by the whole thing, because I felt like a painter, yet I couldn't make paintings."
"Reality is possessed of a visual order and logic at once more dynamic and more subtle than any vista I can contrive. I try to perceive this splendor as objectively as possible and render it with believable authenticity. Realist painting provides an occasion to visually savor reality."
"In 1963 I wanted to start painting again but I decided I wasn't going to do abstract pictures. It occurred to me that I should go as far to the opposite as I could. It occurred to me that projecting and tracing the photograph instead of copying it freehand would be even more shocking."
"I am interested in the light and the effect it has on surfaces, and the spaces where these objects exist. Also, the objects themselves, and how their form is defined by their surface and the light...and that ultimately creates the illusion of the three-dimensional object even though it is on a flat surface. That whole package of mechanical art is a concern and part of my interest. The surfaces of objects really fascinate me. I think what drew me to the diners in the first place was all the metal and glass, the vinyl and so forth."
Ralph was a member of the Hyper-Realist or Photo-Realist group of the late 1960’s.
As a person, Ralph was funny, kind, gentle and humble, despite his success as an artist. He loved good food, good wine and jazz music.
Ralph was married to Shanna Powell.