Photo credit: Frenel Morris

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.

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/

“Es Colmado, No Bodega” (2020)
Acrylic paint, color pencil, soft oil pastel; paper figure on Wood panel
48X36”

“Jaiba” (2022)
Acrylic, color pencil, soft oil pastel, oyster knives , Bristol paper on wood panel
60X48”

“Donde Están Los Limoncillos?” (2020)
acrylic, colored pencil, oil stick, oil pastel, paper on wood panel
48 x 72”

“Musa Coccinea” (2021)
Acrylic, Soft Oil Pastel, color pencil, Wallpaper; Bristol paper on wood panel
84X72”