Episode 106 features Bony Ramirez (b. 1996, Tenares, Salcedo, Dominican Republic). He is a New Jersey-based artist whose work draws inspiration from Caribbean iconography and Renaissance style. In bold portraits of contorted, often nude figures, drawn on paper and then adhered to painted wooden backdrops that evoke the Caribbean tropics, Ramirez’s work meditates on the legacy of colonialism in his native Dominican Republic. He cites Renaissance tropes like romanticized gore as influence: references recontextualized by afro-caribbean elements (a plantain tree, a durag) and reclaimed by the Black and Brown figures who inhabit them. Layers of material evoke the vestiges of Euro-colonialism that continue to inhabit the Caribbean psyche — a “double consciousness” that is occasionally, violently, interrupted. Ramirez’s work has been featured in solo exhibitions at Bradley Ertaskiran, Montréal and Thierry Goldberg Gallery, New York, as well as recent group exhibitions at Jeffrey Deitch, Los Angeles; Company Gallery, New York; Nino Mier Gallery, Los Angeles; Regular Normal, New York; Zürcher Gallery, New York and Anna Zorina Gallery, New York.
Photo credit: Frenel Morris
Artist https://bonyramirez.com/
Artsy https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-best-booths-new-york-art-week-2022
Artsy https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-artsy-vanguard-2021-bony-ramirez?fbclid=IwAR3O8p4iBIPzvZnL9tmda1b7dA75DU_2oKD6Jb1ymwnL8FZU9hvD79pXir0
Fountainhead Arts https://www.fountainheadarts.org/upcoming/residency-open-house-february
Hyperallergic https://hyperallergic.com/692777/miami-fountainhead-arts-announces-2022-artists-in-residence/
Bradley Ertaskiran https://bradleyertaskiran.com/en/exhibition/bony-ramirez/
Perth Amboy Now https://perthamboynow.com/perth-amboy-artist-bony-ramirez-recognized-as-top-artist-working-today/
Thierry Goldberg https://thierrygoldberg.com/Bony-Ramirez-MUSA-X-PARADISIACA-Images
Thierry Goldberg https://thierrygoldberg.com/Bony-Ramirez-Grass-Under-The-Wood-Images
Deitch https://deitch.com/los-angeles/exhibitions/shattered-glass-curated-by-melahn-frierson-and-aj-girard
Mier Gallery https://www.miergallery.com/exhibitions/group-show-gest
Thierry Goldberg https://thierrygoldberg.com/And-The-Sun-Left
Artnet https://news.artnet.com/buyers-guide/bony-ramirez-art-of-americas-2098781
Art Break Out https://artbreakout.com/self-taught-artist/self-taught-dominican-american-artist-bony-ramirez-at-thierry-goldberg-gallery-through-december-20/
It’s Nice That https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/bony-ramirez-art-270720
Art Maze Mag https://artmazemag.com/pre-colonisation-caribbean-luxury-bony-ramirezs-multimodal-artworks-draw-on-the-opulence-of-traditional-portraiture-to-exalt-underrepresented-narratives/
