Vibrant, Skeletal Figures Sound Off on Politics

January 21, 2017, 1:30am

Oversized paintings of a sobbing clown king, with shackles on one of his wrists and a scythe balancing in the background, make for a heavily populated tableau. Carlos Ramirez’s Southwest American paintings boast finely paired citrus tones and a deep connection to his culture. Incorporating both the political environment and his affinity for pop references, Ramirez’s solo show, titled Complejo de Cristo y Vampiros, shows off a diverse range of mediums, with materials from house paint, stickers, bottle caps, discarded packaging, and liberal amounts of acrylics. The painter’s work, Complejo de Cristo y Vampiros, or “Complex of Christ and Vampires” in English, is currently on view at New Image Art.

Ramirez is one half of the artistic duo Date Farmers, who began offering a look at Mexican-American life through mixed-media in 1998. Rooted in the Coachella valley, commonly associated with the over-the-top music festival, the artist forms his works around a collection of found materials, as well as the vibrant Hispanic culture in the Southwestern region. Elements like snakes, spiders, and scorpions merge with religious symbols. Each character in Ramirez’s work swims with a unique energy that bursts forth with translucently bright skin and jutting musculature.

Videos by VICE

The artist tells The Creators Project, his art “stems from my interpretation of pop culture, via my political and social viewpoints […] Current subjects deal with oppression, and the merging of Mexican-American cultural and religious symbols.”

“Right now,” he continues, “I am trying to convey the urgency that people are feeling due to the new administration’s threat of minority deportation and the loss of our freedoms.”