CARLOS RAMIREZ

Carlos Ramirez’s painting and sculpture often speaks of the inequalities within Mexican-American communities and champions the common man as underdog. Rooted in his Mexican-American heritage and Californian pop culture, the work contains elements influenced by graffiti, Mexican street murals, traditional revolutionary posters, prison art, Oaxacan sign painting, low-rider and tattoo art, fused together to create his own signature visual language. His work is tremendously resourceful, scavenging abandoned desert environs for creative materials such as discarded signs, wood, and corrugated metal that he reconfigures, often juxtaposing pirated images and text with his original artwork and collaged elements. The work is replete with layers and textures intertwined with the political while being disguised as popular. Works include a combination of house paint, sparkly stickers, handwritten bilingual text, rusted bottle caps, discarded packaging, and an iconic stylized use of acrylic paint with deeply layered figurative workings. Snakes, spiders, scorpions, and other bits of nature from his home in Coachella Valley appear mixed in with Catholic symbolism, aliens, gang members, pop-culture references, and commercial imagery, giving brand logos and religious icons the same attention and placement. Carlos’ paintings continue to evolve becoming denser and more meaningful while remaining alluring and magical.