StoreChuck Ramirez (1962-2010), one of San Antonio’s most beloved artists, was a major force in the San Antonio art community before his untimely death in a 2010 cycling accident. A 2002 Artpace resident, Ramirez’ work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. As an artist and graphic designer, Ramirez employed the visual and conceptual techniques found in contemporary advertising and package design, isolating and re-contextualizing familiar objects to explore cultural identity, mortality, and consumerism through his photographs and installations.
In 2012, The Smithsonian American Art Museum purchased Ramirez’ limited edition large-format photograph, Seven Days: Breakfast Tacos, for the institution’s permanent collection. The work is currently included in the traveling exhibition Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art.
At this time, a significant retrospective of the artist’s work is being organized by Chief Curator Rene Paul Barilleaux at The McNay Art Museum for 2017.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
2017 Forthcoming Retrospective Exhibition, The McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, TX;
curator: Rene Paul Barilleaux
2015 Prematurely Discarded: Photography of Chuck Ramirez, Octavia Art Gallery, Houston, TX;
Curator: Illa Gaunt
2014 Chuck Ramirez: Oscuro Corazón. Blanca Berlín Galería, Madrid, Spain;
Curator: Blanca Berlín (catalogue)
2012 Chuck Ramirez, Looking Forward. Ruiz-Healy Art, San Antonio, TX
2012 Chuck Ramirez: Minimally Baroque, Dina Mitrani Gallery, Miami, FL;
Curator: Dina Mitrani Gallery
2011 Chuck Ramirez: Minimally Baroque, Ruiz-Healy Art and Blue Star Art Space, San Antonio;
Curator: Victor Zamudio-Taylor (catalogue)
2009 A Tía Chuck Christmas, Three Walls, San Antonio, TX
2006 Deeply Superficial, DePauw University Art Museum, Greencastle, IN
Chuck Ramirez, Finesilver Gallery, Houston, TX
2005 Chuck Ramirez, Centro de La Imagen, Mexico City
Chuck Ramirez, O Lamm Espacio Visual, Mexico City
Chuck Ramirez, Arcaute Arte Contemporaneo, Monterrey, Mexico
2004 Odd Thing, Curated by Robert Knafo, Scope NY
Seven Days, Monique Meloche, Gallery, Chicago, IL
Seven Days, Finesilver Gallery, San Antonio, TX
Project Room, Finesilver / FYI, ARCO ’04, Madrid, Spain
Seven Days, Galerie Khadrberlin, Berlin, Germany
2003 Perspectives, FIAC, International Paris Art Fair, Paris, France and Gallery Sol y Sombra, San Antonio, TX
2002 Chuck Ramirez: Bean & Cheese, International Artist-in-Residence Program, Artpace, A Foundation for Contemporary Art / San Antonio, TX, Curator: Jérôme Sans
INOVA- The Institute of Visual Arts, Milwaukee, WI
Dee/Glasoe, New York, NY
Piñata Series, Mark Moore Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
Piñatas – Finesilver Gallery, San Antonio, TX
Scope/Miami Art Fair, Finesilver Gallery, Miami, FL
2001 Chuck Ramirez—Feldman Gallery and Project Space, Portland, OR, Curator: Nan Curtis
2000 Quarantine—Cactus Bra Space, San Antonio, TX
1999 Long Term Survivor—Hudson Showroom, Artpace, A Foundation for Contemporary Art / San Antonio, TX
1998 New Work—House Space, San Antonio, TX
1997 Coconut — Sala Diaz, San Antonio, TX
Photographs, Christmas Yard Light—The Project Room, San Antonio, TX
1995 Eight Christmas Trees—Artpace, A Foundation for Contemporary Art / San Antonio, TX
1995 Dust Collections and other Tchotchke—San Angel Gallery, San Antonio, TX
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
2015 More than Words: Text-Based Artworks, Ruiz-Healy Art, San Antonio, TX
2014 Contemporary Latino Art: El Corazón de San Antonio Texas A & M University-San Antonio: Educational & Cultural Arts Center
Aesthetic Encounters, Ruiz-Healy Art, San Antonio, TX
INK Miami, Miami FL
2013-14 Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art (works from the permanent collection), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C.
2012 Chuck Ramirez and Harry Geffert, The Gallery at UTA, University of Texas at Arlington, TX
Texas Patrons of the Year, Art League of Houston, TX
Queers, Presente! 25 años, 25 artists. Esperanza Center, San Antonio, TX.
2011 PINTA, Ruiz-Healy Art, New York, NY (catalogue)
Houston Art Fair, Ruiz-Healy Art, Houston, TX
Dallas Art Fair, Ruiz-Healy Art, Dallas, TX
Red Dot, Blue Star Art Space, San Antonio , TX
2010 Photographic Dialogues, Ruiz-Healy Art, San Antonio, TX
Group Conversation, Ruiz-Healy Art, San Antonio, TX
La Mezcla / The Mixture, The Guadalupe Cultural Art Center, San Antonio, Curator, Ethel Shipton
Bittersweet: The Chocolate Show, Paul Robeson Galleries, Rutgers University (catalogue), New Brunswick, NJ
2009 Multiples, David Shelton Gallery, San Antonio, TX
VIVID, Webster Collection, Santa Fe, NM
2008 Chocolate, A Photography Exhibition, San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, TX, Curator David Rubin
2007 ¿Y Que?- Queer Art Made in Texas, Landmark Arts, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, Curator Harmony Hammond
Still life in new time, UTSA Art Gallery, San Antonio, TX
Real Appropriate, Unit B, San Antonio, TX
Bowling in the Wind, Sala Diaz, San Antonio, TX
No3, New World Museum, Houston, TX
2006 Leaving Aztlan (redux), Santa Monica Art Studios, CA, Curator Kaytie Johnson
Juxtapositions, The Alameda, San Antonio, TX. Curator Henry Rayburn.
2005 Never Leaving Aztlan, The Museo de las Americas, Denver, CO
Artists Salute Artpace, Christie’s, New York, NY (catalogue)
The portrait show @ CAMPsite, 114 Camp Street, San Antonio, TX Curator Alice Carrington
Behind the Image Between the Lines, Polvo, Chicago, IL
Seis Who, Alameda Theater, San Antonio, TX
Leaving Aztlan, Center for the Visual Arts, Metro State College, Denver; LIMN Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Group Exhibit, Finesilver/FYI Gallery, San Antonio, TX
2004 Twang, Art Museum of Southeast Texas, Beaumont, TX
Arte Caliente, Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, TX
H20-Considering the Hydrosphere, Southwest School of Art and Craft, San Antonio, TX
sub-TEXT, Transformer Gallery, Washington, DC
Arcuate Arte Contemporáneo, Monterrey, Mexico
Automatic Art Tour, San Antonio, TX
East Theo Street Project 2004, San Antonio, TX
2003 Not So Cute and Cuddly, Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University, Wichita, KS
Play With Your Food, curated by Clint Wilhour, Houston Center for Photography, Houston, TX
ARCO ’03 Currents, curated by Victor Zamudio-Taylor, Madrid, Spain
2002 10 x 3, San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, TX, Curator Kathryn Kanjo
Metropolis, Art Chicago, Chicago, IL, Curator: Peter Doroshenko
Digital Migrations: Chuck Ramirez and Jesse Amado, Sala Diaz, ARCO 02.
Cutting Edge, Madrid, Spain
Easy as 1, 2, 3, RC Gallery, San Antonio, TX
2001 Políticas de la diferencia: Arte Iberoamericano fin de siglo—Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, Argentina (catalogue)
Aztlán Hoy. La posnación Chicana—Bronx Museum of Contemporary Art, NY, Curator Berta Sichel (catalogue)
100 Songs You Nearly Didn’t Hear, Artpace, San Antonio, TX
Quarantine—Mixture Contemporary Art, Houston, Curator Paul Arensmeyer
Big As Texas—Diverse Works Art Space, Houston, TX, Curator Paul Arensmeyer
Once there was a spot—Locust Project, Miami, FL, Curator Chris Donahue
Guten-tag: Works from the Border Arts International Artist Exchange Program, UTSA Satellite Space, San Antonio, TX
2000 Latino Redux—North Texas State University, Denton, TX, Curator Franco Mondini Ruiz
Yard Sale—Downtown Arts Festival, New York, NY
1999 Objects—University of Texas, San Antonio, TX Satellite Space, Curators Jennifer Davies, Francis Colpitt
Techno—Lawndale Art Center, Houston,TX Curator Randell Garrett
Aztlán Hoy. La posnación Chicana—Canal de Isabel II, Madrid, Spain, Curator Berta Sichel
Out West— Santa Fe, NM, Curator Harmony Hammond (catalogue)
Temporary—James Gallery, Houston, TX Curator: Hills Snyder
Real Vertual—Lago Vista Gallery, Richland College, Dallas, TX, Curator Randall Garrett
Blue Star Red Dot, Blue Star Art Space, San Antonio, TX
1998 Boy’s Toys—Arlington Museum of Contemporary Art, Arlington, TX, Curator Joan Davido
Trade—Salon 300, Brooklyn, NY Curator: Alejandro Diaz
Contrasts—San Antonio Art League Museum, San Antonio, TX, Curator: Angelica Jansen
1997 Revelation—Dallas Visual Art Center, Dallas, TX, Curator Diana Block
Tres Proyectos Latinos: Memory Frames—Austin Museum of Art at La Gloria, Austin, TX, Curators Henry Estrada, Victor Zamudio-Taylor
Blue Star Red Dot, Blue Star Art Space, San Antonio, TX
Como una Flor, Wong’s Art Bar, San Antonio, Texas
1996 Synthesis & Subversion: A Latino Direction in San Antonio Art—UTSA Gallery and the UTSA Satellite Space, San Antonio, TX, Curator Frances Colpitt (catalogue)
Blue Star Eleven: Double Trouble—Blue Star Art Space, San Antonio, TX, Curator: Dana Friis- Hansen
Red Installation, Blue Star on Houston Street II—Blue Star Art Space, San Antonio, TX, Curators Glenna Park, Riley Robinson, Anita Valencia, Terry Ybanez.
Blue Star Red Dot, Blue Star Art Space, San Antonio, TX
1995 Blue Star Red Dot, Blue Star Art Space, San Antonio, TX
MUSEUM COLLECTIONS:
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, TX
McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, TX
The Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, TX
The European Museum of Photography, Paris, France
El Museo Del Barrio, New York, NY
Pérez Art Museum, Miami, FL
New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, NM
Indiana University Art Museum, Bloomington, IN
The Linda Pace Foundation, San Antonio, TX
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS:
University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX
AT&T Center Art Collection, San Antonio, TX
The South Texas Blood and Tissue Center, San Antonio, TX
The Hidalgo Foundation of Bexar County, San Antonio, TX
San Antonio Water Systems, San Antonio, TX
San Antonio International Airport, San Antonio, TX
Frost Bank, San Antonio, TX
Argo Group, San Antonio, TX
Ricos Products, San Antonio, TX
Siete Acres LLC, San Antonio, TX
AC Marriott Hotel, Miami Beach, FL
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Anspon, Catherine D. et al. Texas Artists Today. Marquand Books, 2010.
Arco Noticias, # 25, Autumn, 2002.
Arévalo, Phil. Tres Proyectos Latinos’ Provokes Questions, Voices of Art, July/August, 1997.
Atwell, Wendy. Long Term Survivor, ArtLies, Summer, 1999.
Challenging Stereotypes, Southwest Art, April, 2005, pp.107-109.
Colpitt, Frances. Chuck Ramirez, in Memoriam, ArtLies, 68, Spring/Summer 2011.
Cuba, Nan and Riley Robinson, eds. Art at Our Doorstep: San Antonio Writers + Artists. San Antonio: Trinity University Press, 2008.
Davenport, Bill. Tire Iron # 30, Glasstire, November, 2001.
---. Tire Iron # 13, Glasstire, June, 2001.
Ewing, John. Chuck Ramirez’s Coconut, Voices of Art, Sept./Oct., 1997, pp. 3-4.
---. Food Fetish, San Antonio Current, March 28-April 3, 2002.
---. Objects, San Antonio Current, Dec., 1999.
---. Of Cocktails and Cockrings, San Antonio Current, March, 1999, pp. 13, 43.
Fisch, Sarah. Rocket Man, San Antonio Current, November, 2010.
Franco, Ira. San Antonio, Texas, Vuelo, September, 2007, p. 124.
Freeman, David M. Chuck Ramirez, Voices of Art, Feb. 1999, p. 28-30.
Garcia, Gilbert. Head to Head: Chuck Ramirez and Jennifer Jankauskas, San Antonio Current, July, 2003.
Greenberg, Mike. Column, San Antonio Express-News, April 30, 1996.
Goddard, Dan. Portraits take on new look in exhibit, S.A. Life, San Antonio Express-News, November 17, 2005, p.1F, 6F.
---. S.A. artists soak up foreign culture, S.A. Life, San Antonio Express-News, September 28, 2001, p.1F, 8F.
Gupta, Anjali. Chuck Ramirez: Purse Portraits (2005-2007), ArtLies, Summer 2007, pp 32-39.
---. Sala Gala, San Antonio Current, 2001.
Hawkins, Margaret. Chuck Ramirez, Chicago Sun-Times. April 2, 2004.
---. Artists Return to Artpace, S.A. Life, San Antonio Express-News, April 20, 2005.
Jarboe Russell, Jan. The reaction to artist's death was illuminating, San Antonio Express-News, November 13, 2010.
Morrison, Emily. Juxtapositions at Alameda Theater Complex, Voices of Art Magazine, v14.2, 2006, p. 22- 23.
Oliver, Retha. Yunhee Min, Chuck Ramirez and Carter Potter ArtLies, Winter 2005, p. 102-103.
O’Sullivan, Michael. Transforming 14th Street Washington Post, September 24, 2004, p. WE40.
Park, Glenna. Kitsch and Kulchur, Voices of Art, Oct./Nov., 1995.
Rayburn, Henry. Chuck Ramirez: Title TK, ArtLies, Fall 2003, p. 75.
Rumble, Janet L. Prodigious Icons, Metropolis, Dec. 1996.
Ryan, Paul.l Chuck Ramirez, Andrea Caillouet and Jesse Amado: sub-TEXT, ArtLies, Winter 2005, pp 106- 107.
Segelke, Jennifer. Object Lesson, Brilliant, June/July 2005, pp. 62, 64.
Siegel, Katy. First Take: Katy Siegel on Chuck Ramirez, Artforum International, January 2003, p. 122.
Siegel, Katy and Paul Mattick. Art Works Money. New York: Thames and Hudson, 2004.
Silva, Elda. “Artists share vision at museum, San Antonio Express-News, March 24, 2000, 5A.
Tilley, Libby. Featured Artist: Chuck Ramirez, City Pages, March 2006, pp. 32 – 35.
Ward, Liz. Quarantine, ArtLies, March, 2001, p. 82.
Welch, Roger. S.A. artist finds truth and beauty in garbage and trash bags, San Antonio Express-News, April 2, 1998, p. 3F.
Windeler, Diane. High-tech Bohemian, San Antonio Express-News, June 26, 1996.
Yerkes, Susan. Column, San Antonio Express-News, April 16, 1996.
Yood, James. Chuck Ramirez, Monique Meloche Gallery Tema Celeste Magazine, July/August, 2004, p. 78.
Young, Melanie. Artistic Outpost, Images. San Antonio Express-News, February 16, 1997.
CATALOGUES:
Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art, The Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2014.
Artists Salute Artpace: A benefit auction to celebrate Artpace San Antonio’s 10th Anniversary, Christie’s, New York, NY, 2005.
Aztlán Hoy, Sala de Exposiciones del Canal de Isabel II, Madrid, Spain, November, 1999.
Bell, Anonda et al. Bittersweet: The Chocolate Show, Rutgers University, 2010.
Colpitt, Frances et al. Chuck Ramirez: Minimally Baroque, Ruiz-Healy Art and Blue Star Contemporary Art Center, San Antonio, TX, 2011.
Colpitt, Frances. Synthesis & Subversion: A Latino Direction in San Antonio Art, UTSA Gallery and the UTSA Satellite Space, San Antonio, TX, 1996.
Out West, Plan B Evolving art, CCA Inc. Santa Fe, NM, September, 1999.
Revelation, Dallas Visual, Art Center, Dallas, TX, December, 1997.
Zamudio-Taylor, Victor et al. Políticas de la diferencia: Arte Iberoamericano fin de siglo, Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, Argentina, MALBA Colección Costantini, 2001.