The Sun Sets on Squishiepuss

Days before the opening of Squishieland, a would-be art gallery and event space by Atlanta-based artist Ray Geier, texts and tweets of abuse surface

Squishiepuss2
Photo credit: Photo Courtesy of Sam Maloney
KING OF POPS HQ: Painting over.

You’ve probably seen the pink, octopus-like French bulldog creature painted on buildings all over town. You may even be a fan. But what if the creator of that cute squishy face turned out to be concealing an unexpectedly dark persona? That’s what folks are currently asking about Ray Geier, the artist also known as Squishiepuss, after extremely alarming sexual harassment allegations against him have surfaced.

Geier popped up in the Atlanta art scene around 2012 and quickly made a name for himself with his stylized cartoons of a French bulldog with an octopus body, a signature character that eventually gathered an enthusiastic following. On his website, Geier sold everything from enameled pins to skateboards to handpainted portraits — most featuring the bulldog’s memorable pink coat and pop eyes. Most recently, Geier planned to open a free art gallery and event space  to be called Squishieland, set to open January 12.

Late Thursday evening, January 3, on Facebook, a flood of allegations poured in, many echoing this one from an Atlanta Facebook user: "After hearing from dozens of women that this Ray Fella thinks it's funny to joke about rape and aids [sic], be super abusive to women. Sleep on this artist, his gallery, his events. There are more talented artists in our city. I'm not one to jump on the call-out culture but you just don't have literally dozens of women come forward over the course of a few hours over misunderstandings. Ray, your behavior isn't acceptable.”

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Photo Credit: Screenshot by Ema Carr

IT’S A SHAME ABOUT RAY: Images attributed to Squishiepuss.


The allegations, which go as far as alleged pedophilia, include screenshots of Geier’s revenge porn, targeting those who rejected him sexually. These disturbing screenshots were made public by Atlanta artist and alleged victim Aliya Smith, who, when asked why she felt it important to go public, forwarded Creative Loafing this statement.

“This has been whispered around Atlanta, especially though the art scene, and especially among women, for years,” says Smith, who claims she tried to warn people about her experiences with Geier over a year ago. “I’d had a couple of uncomfortable interactions with him by that point and he made sexual comments about photos of mine that made me deeply uncomfortable."

As it turned out, Smith's experience was tame in comparison with that of others who began to speak out.

“On NYE 2018, [Kayleen] Scott posted some screenshots from Geier’s old Twitter account, “rayspitsongirls,” to her Instagram story and texted them to me out of anger after finding them,” Smith’s statement continues. “We both decided it was time to stop whispering and start speaking, yelling. A few days later, I posted them to my IG story. I posted anonymous accounts I had received along with my own because I wanted [Geier] to stop harassing people. I didn’t know how deep it went. In just 24 hours I received hundreds of messages, about 40 or so of which were claims of [alleged] harassment, assault, revenge porn, as well as talk of underage girls. Then Kayleen and I thought about the gallery he was going to open and we got so scared about the vulnerable young women it could bring in. When Kayleen started warning people about this, it was purely out of protection. When we [posted the screenshots] this week, it was out of the same motive. The city shouldn’t support anything [given] the claims we’ve received. And it seems like the city agrees.

“We’ve of course received backlash from people who think this is a conspiracy or a trend of some sort," added Smith, "but the overwhelming support for victims has been amazing.”

Atlanta artist and Facet Gallery owner, Peter Ferrari, also posted concerns involving Geier, just days before Geier was set to open a new retail, event, and art gallery in Grant Park’s latest development, The Beacon Atlanta. When CL reached out to Ferrari regarding the timing of his posts, he confirmed Smith’s statement and added his own take on Geier’s place in Atlanta’s art community, particularly regarding Kayleen Scott, who is also Ferrari’s girlfriend.

“I’ve avoided and actively ignored Ray for several years now. He said really inappropriate things to my girlfriend (artist Kayleen Scott), so I knew he was a creep and possibly worse. It was something shared privately, but often ignored. A friend sent me his video regarding Squishieland. I was immediately skeptical, as it seemed tailor-made to give him access to impressionable artists looking to break into the scene. I made a post on my story about artists being skeptical of those claiming to “support the arts” while simultaneously creeping on young women. I did not name Ray in the post. Afterwards I was contacted by a woman who immediately knew who I was referring to. She told me about his old twitter handle, @rayspitsongirls [since deleted] and I Googled it. We saw all the tweets. My girlfriend was furious. It brought back years of anger and trauma that she had pushed down. She posted the tweets to her private Instagram and shared her experiences with Ray. Another woman asked if she could share on her public page and see if others had the same experience. Once she did, she was inundated with dozens of accounts from women alleging inappropriate behavior from Ray. From there, it took off, resulting in his outing as an [alleged] serial mistreater of women and girls in the arts community. The timing was not a coincidence. His opening/gallery brought back trauma and grief to the victims that could not be suppressed. There was a risk to our community that couldn’t be ignored any longer,” Ferrari concluded.

Regardless of who leaked the first tweet, the furor has leveled Geier’s standing and created a significant threat to his career. When contacted by Creative Loafing for a comment on Friday, January 4, Geier responded, "I'm still trying to figure out between ignoring it or making a video / podcast addressing it. so that nothing gets misconstrued. ... That's why I haven't commented, yet. I'm listening." While not getting back to CL directly, Geier finally took to social media Saturday morning [January 5], posting a video saying, “I’m ashamed and embarrassed.” More than 500 commenters reacted negatively, agreeing that the video was hardly a remorseful apology.

Within hours, the video and the artist’s social media presence was scrubbed from the internet. Businesses across Atlanta, such as Home Grown GA and Hodgepodge Coffeehouse, were quick to remove all traces of Squishiepuss art.

The Beacon Atlanta issued a statement saying they’ve ended their lease agreement with Geier and he will no longer be a tenant. Click here to read the full statement by The Beacon Atlanta.

Editor's note: This article has been edited since its original publication to more accurately report the story. 





Comments

  • Noavatar

    Bill (unverified)

    Art crap, take-down speed would impress a PoMo’s post warhol. Hope they all heal.
  • Noavatar

    Name (unverified)

    Interesting story, but the last paragraph of the article just trails off and feels disjointed. This is more of a comment on the writing than the story. Could be better.
  • Noavatar

    A Girl (unverified)

    Thanks for talking about Ferrari’s role in this. He started this, led the charge, got this guys life destroyed judge jury executioner style, and then talked about stealing the idea on Facebook with friends. From what I see, this guy deserved a fair trial because a lot of this is fishy, but unfortunately he’s completely gone. I’ve also since heard some other guy competitors have talked about Peter [allegedly — ed.] doing something similar to them.
    • Noavatar

      Name (unverified)

      Yea. I've been following Peter Ferari for a little while now and he comes off as the self righteous, self proclaimed atlanta art police.

      In the made up story in my head Peter decided to take Ray out after seeing him about to open up his own space. Peter, knowing he could use ray's inappropriate behavior to crush him. He would have used his girlfriend's experience, but that would have lead directly back to him, so they "used" that Aliya artist to get the campaign out.

      Just my guess as to how it went down.

    • Noavatar

      Peter Ferrari (unverified)

      Did you read the story? You're facts are not correct. To begin with, I didnt leak anything and I certainly didn't "start this". This was started decades ago when Ray decided to mistreat and harass women. Your post is ridiculous. The people of Atlanta saw what was shared by his VICTIMS and took action. I amplified their message as many others have.
      • Noavatar

        NdeksKTL (unverified)

        Peter Ferrari did what any civic minded, compassionate individual would’ve done. Don’t marginalize his endeavors because of his position in the arts community. Quit supporting abusive men and shaming victims. I’ve been aware of Ray’s [alleged — ed.] perversity for years, but because of victim shamers the message fell on deaf ears. You wanna continue to buy crap recycled talentless art from a [alleged — ed.] rapist? Go ahead, his website is still active. Also, take your shit to another city skin with you favorite [alleged — ed.] pedophilic joke “artist” and quit harassing decent people who are standing up for the downtrodden and mistreated women of Atlanta. Fuck ray and anyone who supports him. Fuck rape culture. You naysayers keep asking for proof but I say the tweets are enough. If you can’t accept that perhaps victims don’t want to fully embrace the media whirlwind at their own expense, keep sucking pink tentacle. You make me sick and should be ashamed of yourself, though we all know that won’t happen, since without “ray” you can’t spell RAYPIST
      • Noavatar

        Aimee (unverified)

        So wait you're saying this is correct, you knew about it years ago, and JUST NOW decided to bring it all to the surface, right before he opened his gallery that would have directly competed with yours? I don't think any of the things he said were right, I just think your part in this is just as wrong because it doesn't come from the right place. Not that it matters anymore. You took part by not saying something right away but waiting until it was convenient for you to dig up those tweets from a decade ago. He said horrible things, but from reading this it seems to me you did something horrible.
  • Noavatar

    Cere (unverified)

    I don't understand a word of this article as it's written in slang. There are so many gaps, so many unexplained statements that assume the reader already has vast knowledge of the Atlanta "Art" Scene (if you can call what appears to be one graffiti character 'art'). I guess you have to be young and 'hip' to get it.
  • Noavatar

    Bullied artist in atlanta (unverified)

    Now that the ball is rolling.
    Who’s going to speak out about the harassment, abuse, & bullying of free art Atlanta artists? Sadly being done by other free art artists. Woman telling other women that they don’t make enough art. Don’t live ITP. Don’t make enough drops. Turning art into burns dissing the original artist. For no reason than to be mean. It’s sad. That it’s continued for 5+ years and no one wants to talk about it.

  • Noavatar

    doom (unverified)

    As of 4 am Saturday, there were over 500 comments, almost all about what a pathetic excuse of an apology it was. It didn't apologize for anything and he tried to use mental illness as an excuse.

    As an aside, where's the end of the article? It reads like a BuzzFeed article. "Here's our headline but this is basically all stuff somebody else wrote with us summing up things - inaccurately."

    Woohoo. My first-ever comment. I hope it is "overall" dope.

  • Noavatar

    Paigeboy (unverified)

    Guy is a total creep. He hit me up in my dms a year ago and said "I'm hot because I look like a little boy". May he rot.
  • Noavatar

    Truth Hurts (unverified)

    All these accusations, and no actual screens of alleged messages he is said to of sent to multiple victims. It’s only innocent when proven guilty when it’s suits you I guess. This shit reeks double standards.
  • Noavatar

    Susannah Leigh (unverified)

    While I appreciate this story getting coverage, I think its disjointedness deters away from the actual stories and trauma these women experienced. The conspiracy that this was a witch hunt orchestrated by Peter is absurd (who is a lovely human, btw). To suggest this story is about two "competing" galleries diminishes the real pain and abuse women experienced over the span of a decade (and probably more). Thank you Aliya and Kayleen for getting this conversation started, and thank you to all the brave women who came forward with their stories. I hope CL will publish a more thoughtful re-write of this soon.
  • Noavatar

    TheWorldIsDoomed (unverified)

    This is the level of "news" we get now! Pulling stuff off of social media and re-cycling hearsay that is three or four levels deep? Did the author reach out to the person being accused to at least get their point of view? This article is as irresponsible as those posting the hate and vitriol on social media. I would argue it is even more irresponsible, since the media [barely] carries with it more of semblance of fact.

    I'm not arguing for either side of this issue but I do think this reeks of the bully mentality prevalent today. The court of public opinion has tried and convicted someone and ruined their life totally. Being a creepy asshole isn't a crime. If crimes have been committed, then report to the authorities and handle it like adults instead of spoiled children.

    • Editor

      Yes, Ray Geier was contacted by the author for a statement. His response was, "I'm still trying to figure out between ignoring it or making a video / podcast addressing it. so that nothing gets misconstrued. ... That's why I haven't commented, yet. I'm listening." Geier's response was the video referenced in the story.
  • Noavatar

    Dirk (unverified)

    There was an excerpt that said all his art were “the same, literally.” Nice bias opinion there. He’s a horrible person but shame on the writer for not being objective. The art isn’t literally the same. If you google it, you’ll clearly see multiple variances. Again, not saying the artist is a good person, but when you are a journalist, you have to write about facts and leave your opinions out. Glad the writer edited that part out. Also, a great journalist does not need days to write a good article. If it’s breaking, they need to be able to produce high quality news on the spot. CL please hire better writers.
    • Editor

      Thank you for your comments and concerns. You are correct.

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