Mixed media on canvas, 68 x 48, $3500
Mixed media on canvas, 69 x 48, $3000
Mixed media on canvas, 28 x 18, $1400
Mixed media on canvas, 38 x 33, $1800
Mixed media on paper, 28 x 38 $1600
Mixed media on canvas, 30 x 17, $1400
Mixed media on canvas, 78 x 66, $4500
Mixed media on canvas, 18 x 20, $900
Mixed media on canvas, 26 x 21, $1600
Mixed media on canvas - 20 panels, $4500
Jose Ramirez
Jose Ramirez is an artist and teacher who was born and lives in Los Angeles. He has been teaching for 10 years in the South Central, East L.A., and Pico-Union neighborhoods of Los Angeles. Jose received his teaching credential from CSULA and a BFA and MFA in art from UC Berkeley. His work as an artist has taken him to New York, Japan, San Francisco, Washington DC, and Mexico. He has worked with LACMA, The Natural History Museum, White Memorial Hospital, PBS Television, KPFK radio, Homeboy Industries, the Japanese American National Museum, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, Dolores Mission (LA), The California Wellness Foundation, LAUSD and Self Help Graphics. Most recently, his work has appeared in American Family (PBS), InMotionMagazine.com, and in the childrens book Nuevo Sol, (2002). In 2001, he received the Getty Visual Arts Fellowship.
Jose has been working on two childrens books for Arte Publico Press (Houston), a mural at Esperanza Elementary (LAUSD) and another in White Memorial Hospital(East LA), and has exhibited in the Bridge Gallery in City Hall (Los Angeles), the California African American Museum, and the Japanese American National Museum. This year, he has completed commissions for The Annie E. Casie Foundation (Baltimore), Bread and Roses (New York), the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department and the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund (Los Angeles).
My paintings combine references to history and culture to provide a context for understanding the contemporary issues we face. I try to comment on these struggles while visualizing the hopes and dreams of our community. I want my artwork to speak a language that is easy to access. Like most Chicano art, my paintings are proactive and assume the responsibility of documenting history and inspiring love. I hope always to remember that I started painting to understand myself and the world I live in. My paintings have chaotic and contrasting colors that invite, stylizations and abstractions that redefine reality, and content that illuminates and speaks with the world we live in.
