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Drawing on his immediate urban environment, certain pockets of art history, and Post-Fordist philosophy, Edgar Ramirez is an atypical painter. The subject matter of his work is inspired by the anonymous signs– We Buy Houses, Fix Your Credit, etc– that parasitically populate low-income neighborhoods all over Los Angeles, as well as America. Appropriating the look and language of these predatory signs, he paints them in a multitude of colors on cardboard and then subjects them to a process of aggressive subtraction which seems to exist somewhere between classical décollage and urban decay. The resultant images are variously reminiscent of Nouveau Realism, the work of Los Angeles native, Mark Bradford and Abstract Expressionism. However, differing from his forebears, the exploitative specificity of the subject matter directly informs the formal decisions that Ramirez makes. The subtractive aspect of the work becomes analogous to the negativity of debt as a positive ontological feature of the contemporary human subject. You are by virtue not of what you have, but by what you don’t have, or rather, owe. By a similar twist of negative logic, these paintings could also be situated within a landscape tradition through their invocation of the harried urban fabric from which they issue. To Clyfford Still’s vast romantic conjurations of the American west, Ramirez responds with a symbolic horizon which is altogether more damaged, anarchic and violent. For all their riotous energy, these paintings respond to a landscape that arguably takes more than it gives. Nevertheless, the palpable texture, richness and color of Ramirez’s paintings are characterized by a strident and explosive beauty, as if in protest, and in spite of everything.

                                                                                                                                                                                      - Chris Sharp

About

Edgar Ramirez (b. 1989, Los Angeles) lives and works in Los Angeles. He received his MFA from ArtCenter College of Design, Pasadena, in 2020, and his BFA, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles in 2018. His most recent projects include a solo presentation at Frieze, Los Angeles (2023) and a solo exhibition at Chris Sharp Gallery (2022). His work has been featured in group exhibitions most recently, at Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles (2022)The Mistake Room, Los Angeles (2022), Show Gallery, as part of his residency at Quinn Emanuel Artists-in-Residence, Los Angeles (2022), as well as a solo presentation at NADA, Miami with Chris Sharp Gallery (2021).

Edgar Ramirez

 

b. 1989, Los Angeles, CA

Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA

Education

 

2020    MFA, ArtCenter College of Design, Pasadena, CA

2018    BFA, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA

 

Solo Exhibitions

 

2022    I've Been Dreamin' Too Long, Chris Sharp Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2020    Terminal Island, ArtCenter College of Design, Pasadena, CA

Two Person Exhibitions

 

2022    Quinn Emanuel Artists-in-Residence, Show Gallery, Los Angeles, CA curated by Alexis Hyde

2017    Into Your Imagination, The Watermark, Beverly Hills, CA

 

Group Exhibitions

 

2022     Rostro, Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, curated by Ever Velasquez

           Aqux, The Mistake Room, Los Angeles, CA organized by TMR and curated by César García-                   Alvarez

2021     Dark Waters, exhibition benefiting the Better Watts Initiative, curated by Lauren Halsey, AJ                       Girard, and Tea Vickers, Watts Labor Community Action Committee, Los Angeles, CA 

2020    Fell for Everything, ArtCenter DTLA, Los Angeles, CA

2018    In the Shadow of the Boss, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA

            Introspect, Substrate Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

 

2017    Wilderness as Myth and Metaphor, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles, CA

            50% Single, Bolsky Gallery, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA

            Narrowing Wavelengths, Bolsky Gallery, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA

           

2016    One Night Stand, UCLA Broad Art Center

           

Awards, Residencies, and Art Fairs

 

2023    Frieze, Los Angeles 

2023    Los Angeles Lakers In The Paint Contributing Artist

2022    Inaugural, Los Angeles Lakers In The Paint Grantee  

2021    NADA, Miami, Chris Sharp Gallery

2021    Inaugural, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart and Sullivan's Artist-in-Residence program

Press

2023    02/24, Reportage dalla più grande edizione di Frieze a Los Angeles - Elle Decor

2023    02/24, What We Saw at Frieze Week Los Angeles 2023 - Scout

2023    02/23, Frieze LA 2023 — Flipping through my look book - Artillery

2023    02/22, Frieze LA secures city’s status as an art market destination- Financial Times

2023    02/18, City of Santa Monica acquires Edgar Ramirez painting from Frieze Los Angeles - The Art               Newspaper

2023    02/18, Work by Edgar Ramirez Acquired by The City of Santa Monica Art Bank Collection at                     Frieze Los Angeles 2023 - Frieze

2023    02/17, Tamales, Celebs, and Hungry Collectors at Frieze LA - Hyperallergic

2023    02/17, Seven Artists Making Waves in Frieze LA’s Focus Section - Cultured

2023    02/16, Expanding Its Purview and Size, Frieze LA’s Focus Section Goes Big on ‘Fresh Ideas’                    - ARTnews

2023    02/16, The Best Booths at Frieze LA 2023 - ARTnews

2023    02/08, Frieze LA: Guide to 2023 art festival - Los Angeles Times

2023    02/03, LA's Ambitious New Galleries to Visit During Frieze - Cultured

2023    01/27, Meet Me In Los Angeles:Edgar Ramirez, Frieze

2023    Frieze, 10 Emerging Artists to Watch at Frieze Los Angeles 2023

2022    07/11 Art Viewer

2022    06/30 Hyperallergic 

2021    NY Times

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