Cleve Gray: Paintings, 1966–1977 presented for the first time in Buffalo the recent work of an important contemporary abstractionist. More than 50 paintings were included in the exhibition, representing "not only a new level of personal achievement, but a kind of breakthrough in which an expressionistic painter, originally inspired by Cubism, combines the legacy of American painting of the 1950s with a remarkable sense of color and space."

The exhibition traveled to the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, Columbus, Ohio; the Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois, Champaign; and the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence.

A catalogue was produced to accompany the exhibition, with an essay by Thomas B. Hess, a foreword by Robert T. Buck, Jr., an annotated chronology complied by Katy Kline, and an extensive bibliography complied by Karen Spaulding.

This exhibition was organized by Albright-Knox Director Robert T. Buck, Jr.