Darren Vigil Gray

Gray has stated that he saw a UFO during the fourth grade, while he was riding the bus, which he cites as showing him that "anything is possible" and incentivizing him to become an artist. As a teenager, he spent most summers on the pow-wow circuit with his cousin, during which time he learned the dances of both sides of his Apache background and explored his Native heritage through the Pan-Indian culture of the powwow. This also enabled him to spend time with painter relatives Francis and Nossman Vigil, which Gray has credited as having introduced a different perspective to art and influencing his path in art school. He has stated that “Long, long ago, I found that if you labeled yourself or categorized yourself as a Native artist, it pigeonholed you, put you in a box. I never wanted that. I never even called myself an Indian artist. That allowed me to be more free. That’s the cornerstone of my whole career. I just wanted to do what I wanted to do and not be dictated to or paint for a certain market.” After art school, Gray decided against teaching art, as he felt that it would put him in danger of becoming a "frustrated" artist who has a certain style or routine.

(2018): "Muse On," AIAI Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Santa Fe- New Mexico In this work Gray says, “My objective is the twisting, and turning, and bending, and re-depiction of this one location that’s been in my bind and in my psyche ever since I was a little boy.” Gray explains, that his intent was to keep adding to it until he believes that it is an accurate depiction of how it was in the past. In this piece, he paints of where his people, the Jicarilla Apache, used to roam. He believes that this is not his first or last illustration of that location, he says that he will keep adding or changing it until he believes he has the correct resemblance of what was there. Gray includes his perspective of his land and his connection to it in this piece.

(August 16, 2018 ):"Expanding Horizons," available at The Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico. The IAIA exhibit describes it as Gray's personal approach to the subject "landscape," including his "painting method inspired by abstract expressionism and his inner self.". He reflects the multiple abstract elements and perspectives that shape up his methods when it comes to expressing his thoughts. Gray states that whether he was in his land or not, his perspective of its land can be seen through his work.

2018: This painting, along with the seven paintings of his at the Gerald Peters Contemporary; are described by Gray as bringing life to these paintings. It is mixed with cultural origins, showing distance, the frontal power, with two landscapes of Ancient Abiquiu and their arching branches." His early encounters and perspectives to his land inspired his engagement into these landscapes.

He then chose to transfer to The College of Santa Fe, Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1978 and remained at the college until the following year. There he met the artists Tesmar Mitchell and Ron Picco. From 1985 until 1986 he attended The University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He states that his art would not have been where it is today if it was not for all the individuals that he encountered on his education journey through the years.

After his parents' divorce Gray received permission from them to attend school outside of the reservation. He followed his cousin and first love, Carol Gala, to the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA), a tribal college in Santa Fe. While at IAIA he attended the high school program from 1975 to 1977 and studied with Otellie Loloma. Gray has stated that he had never been asked to create an art piece prior to attending IAIA and that he discovered a love for art that would soon "shape up his whole perspective." He was exposed to the work of Fritz Scholder and T.C Cannon, the latter of whom became Gray's mentor. He has noted that his early work greatly resembles Cannon's and that the design he inherits referring to his images with patterned surfaces "as a reworking to what T.C used to do. "