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Jose Ramirez Biography
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
children’s book Nuevo Sol, (2002). In 2001, he received the Getty
Visual Arts Fellowship.
Jose has been working
on two children’s 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. |
