← All Of It with Alison Stewart
All Of It with Alison Stewart
How Artist Bony Ramirez Spent a Year Immersed in The Newark Museum of Art
00:17:44
Artist Bony Ramirez's new installation, Cattleya, features work he made inspired by what he found within Newark Museum's collections.
Loading summary
Transcript61 lines
- [00:01]
Wix Advertiser
What does it mean to move at the speed of AI? It means thinking big and moving fast. It means running like a 10 person team, even if it's just you. With Wix, it's possible. Create a website that's as unique as your business. Launch a new campaign or test new ways to make more money without slowing down. Think it, build it, scale it all with AI on wix.
- [00:28]
Bic Soleil Advertiser
Surprise Beach Day. No excuses. I'm in. Give me five. With Bic Soleil Glide Razor, you'll have hydrated, smooth skin that's ready to go on the fly. No shave cream needed. You can prep, shave and hydrate all in one step thanks to moisture bars that hydrate your skin during and after shaving. 5 flexible blades hug your skin for a close shave. Glide into smooth. It's your time to shine with bixsolil. Buy now at Amazon and Walmart. Ready? Your skin looks amazing. So smooth and beach ready.
- [00:55]
Bonnie Ramirez
Let's go.
- [00:57]
Casual Male Speaker
I' ma put you on, nephew.
- [00:59]
Bonnie Ramirez
All right, unc.
- [00:59]
McDonald's Announcer
Welcome to McDonald's.
- [01:00]
Elena Munoz Rodriguez
Can I take your order, miss?
- [01:02]
Casual Male Speaker
I've been hitting up McDonald's for years. Now it's back. We need snack wraps. What's a snack wrap? It's the return of something great. Snack wrap is back.
- [01:13]
Marshalls Advertiser
Oh my gosh. Have you been to Marshall's lately? They have all the brand name and designer pieces you love, but without the jaw dropping price tags. Alright, so here's the truth. You should never have to compromise between quality and price. And at Marshalls, you don't have to. Marshall's believes everyone deserves access to the good stuff and that's why their buyers hustle around the clock. To make it happen for you. Visit a Marshalls store near you or shop online@marshalls.com.
- [01:45]
Casual Male Speaker
Listener supported WNYC studios.
- [01:59]
Bonnie Ramirez
This.
- [01:59]
Koosha Navadar
Is all of it on WNYC. I'm Koosha Navadar in for Alison Stewart. Bonnie Ramirez was just 13 when he left his home in the Dominican Republic. His family settled in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. And it was while growing up in New Jersey that he got interested in making art.
- [02:18]
Elena Munoz Rodriguez
So.
- [02:19]
Koosha Navadar
So he decided to teach himself. After graduating high school, Ramirez worked in construction to make ends meet while also making sure to keep creating. He reserved Sundays to paint in his mom's kitchen. But during the pandemic, Ramirez's work started to blow up online to the point that he was able to support himself as a full time artist. And now his life has come full circle. He was offered an opportunity by the Newark Museum of Art to spend a year in its collections the result of his year long exploration is a new exhibition of work that Bonnie made. Inspired by what he observed as part of the museum's Global Contemporary series. Bonnie Ramirez Catleya is on view now at the Newark Museum of Art. And Ramirez joins me now in studio alongside Elena Munoz Rodriguez, New York Museum assistant curator of Latinx and Latin American art. Welcome both of you to wnyc.
- [03:17]
Elena Munoz Rodriguez
Thank you so much for having us.
- [03:18]
Bonnie Ramirez
Thank you so much for having us. It's definitely an honor and you know, thank you for taking the time, you know, to have us today.
- [03:23]
Koosha Navadar
Thank you and thank you for coming by in the studio. I love talking about art in studio, so it is my pleasure. Bonnie, let's start with your story. When you moved from the US when you moved to the US from the Dominican Republic as a kid, the first museum that you visited was the Newark Museum of Art. What do you remember about that visit? The impression that it made?
- [03:42]
Bonnie Ramirez
Yes, yes, yes. So definitely, you know, as a self taught artist, you know, I did try to apply to different colleges and stuff and one of was Essex County College. It's a county college that's right close to the museum. So in the process of like applying and trying to go, you know, I had like these free times during the day that I had to like, I, I was just wandering around the city of Newark and stuff. You know, I always knew I wanted to do something in the art or something creative. I just, at that point I just didn't think it was, you know, doing what I do today. I didn't think it was going to be that possible. Like I wanted to be like a children's book illustrator or something that would be a little bit more quote unquote realistic to the standards, you know. So in that period of time was, you know, when I visited the Newark Museum, you know, it was definitely like life changing in terms of like again, literally the first museum and literally the first time, you know, visiting an institution. You know, I think a lot of the inspiration from our work comes from like, you know, like the older periods of time, like the Renaissance period or a lot of like, you know, older master works. So I think, you know, I've always loved history as well. So I think one of the things I really liked the museum just from their history of like a lot of like these historical works that they have in their collection, you know, that I, you know, was able to have access to, that I was able to learn about other contemporary artists at that point. So essentially, you know, I think as a self taught artist, like just Going to museums in general was the closest thing to, like, an education that I had. And specifically the Newark Museum was like, as the first one that I did, because at that point, I don't know if it was because a new immigrant, but I was afraid of coming to New York. I was afraid of taking the subway. And, like, I'm like, oh, my God, the subway. So, you know, that was also the closest museum that I had. So. And again, it was an essential tool for me to learn more about arts, for me to more history, and to literally have access to those things, too.
- [05:30]
Koosha Navadar
Alana, how does it sound to hear somebody talk about the place where you work like that?
- [05:35]
Elena Munoz Rodriguez
It's amazing because I think, you know, as part of the curatorial team, and I think all the teams across the institution, we all try to really make our collections and our galleries really accessible to every type of visitor, even a visitor who's never been to a museum before. So to hear that feedback and to hear that that was the feeling that somebody had in our space is really gratifying.
- [05:59]
Koosha Navadar
Can you talk a little bit more about the Global Contemporary series? What's the mission of the series?
- [06:03]
Bonnie Ramirez
How does it work?
- [06:04]
Elena Munoz Rodriguez
Yeah, so the Global Contemporary program is. This is the fifth iteration. So it's almost like a residency where an artist gets full access to our collection and stor and they create a new body of work in response to or sometimes in conjunction with our collections. So, for example, there's three collection artworks from the Newark Museum of Art's collection in Bonnie's exhibition, and to kind of prompt this conversation between our collection and, you know, a contemporary artist.
- [06:42]
Koosha Navadar
Listeners, if you're just joining us, we're talking to Bonnie Ramirez, the artist, and Elena Munoz Rodriguez, who is Newark Museum assistant curator of Latinx and Latin American art. We're speaking about a new exhibition of Ramirez's work now on view at the Newark Museum of Art. It's called Cat Lia, and it's inspired by a year that Ramirez spent in the museum's collections for this exhibition. Bonnie, you spent a year in those collections. What impressed you about what you found?
- [07:10]
Bonnie Ramirez
I mean, one, it was a big honor to even have access to the collection in general. The museum DEFRA provided a lot of guidance and it access to their. To their collection, you know, a lot of things that you would never think, you know, that you would see in person, to be honest. Like, I think, you know, as a art fanatic and as a history fanatic, just seeing a lot of, like, these historical works, these, like, really important works of art in person. So up close as part of the research was definitely like an honor. And it felt really good. It felt like really special to really have that connection, you know, throughout the year, just looking at the collection and stuff, you know, also found, like, different artists that I didn't know about that I also, like, resonated with. So one of the works, for example, that's on view at the show as part of the museum's collection is a piece by Dominican artist Frederick Rodriguez. He passed away a couple years ago. But, you know, for example, I didn't know too much about his work. I didn't know, you know, Elena, you know, brought it up and it was like, oh, this is another American artist that you should, like, look into. So it was like, really refreshing to also see that as part of the collection, you know, of course, you know, in the beginning I gravitated to our works that. By artists that I already knew of. But just like, knowing about these other artists that have been working and have been like, opening the doors for artists like myself was also really refreshing as well, you know.
- [08:28]
Koosha Navadar
The exhibition is named, I believe, after a flower.
- [08:31]
Bonnie Ramirez
Is that right?
- [08:32]
Koosha Navadar
Cattleya, which is an orchid that's native to Central and South America. Right. So what does the flower mean to you within the context of your work on view?
- [08:41]
Bonnie Ramirez
Yeah, so I think, you know, in this year long process of working on the show, I think I wanted like, that one, like what was going to be the focus, you know, and going back to like, where I first visited the museum, you know, one of the works that really spoke to me was this orchid paint by a Heath. You know, I think as a lot of people, like, when we go to museums, we. We want to look for where we feel represented. And I think when I saw that painting, this like, tropical orchid in this like, very tropical setting, it really made me feel like home. So from there, that's kind of like where I kind of wanted to dedicate the show itself to that flower. And as I decompose, deconstructed it in different sections, so I previous solo shows, I always kind of like gravitate towards flowers for like, you know, the titles and different things and like this particular, you know, so I did a little bit more research about just genetically or like scientifically about the flower itself. So it has this layer of, like, the historical side of the painting itself and what it means to the collection. But there's also, you know, a lot of the biological process of the flower. You know, these are epiphytic orchids, which means that they just like, Attach themselves to trees, and they're almost like, you know, they kind of like. I don't want to say they don't feed off of necessarily, but they occupy space in other trees. So they just need, like, air in their roots to kind of grow and like, just, you know, they just need, like, a host, essentially. So from there, you know, kind of like, try to relate it to the history, the history of the Caribbean and see how it can be expanded into different ways.
- [10:14]
Koosha Navadar
Is colonialism at all a part of history?
- [10:18]
Bonnie Ramirez
Can you talk about that a little bit? So, definitely, I think, you know, when. When thinking about this, the orchid and this body of work, I thought about this idea of orchids just being these beautiful parasites, these things that occupy space in another space that does not belong to them. But as humans, when we see an orchid, it's like, oh, my God, it's so beautiful. And we don't even think about the trees actually hosting. And I think from there, kind of try to also connect it to the history of colonialism in the Caribbean and just this almost invader coming into a new space. And also how it's still, you know, the remnants of colonialism in the Caribbean is still a little bit remnant as well, with, like, you know, you still have, like, the toxic side of, like, tourism, a lot of things that it's not always the beautiful resorts and beaches, that there's other layers that are a little bit more, you know, tough to talk about for a lot of people or just like, a little bit, you know, because, you know, most of the Caribbean, we depend on tourism. It's a lot of people don't talk about the also negative sides of tourism. So I think that's another layer of that the exhibition touches upon, you know, beyond the history of colonization, where there's a lot of paintings that tackle that. I also did some works that let us know a little bit how that still affects us today and how a lot of the relationships, you know, with, like, the power dynamics between, like, a lot of the foreigners, a lot of the people that already live in the islands, you know, have. So I just want. There's some works that kind of talk about that specifically as well.
- [11:43]
Koosha Navadar
Elena, how did you first become aware of Bonnie's work? What were your first initial impressions?
- [11:48]
Elena Munoz Rodriguez
So I was first introduced to Bonnie's work by Nicole Calderon at Calderon Gallery. Bonnie was showing as part of a group show there, and so we met at the closing reception of that exhibition. And I was just really drawn to the ways that Bonnie rendered figures and the way he plays with the human form. And I was really interested in kind of the way he challenges and plays with portraiture conventions. Kind of these elongated figures and these elongated limbs and, you know, seashell ears and these surrealist elements. And I was just. I also really liked that his figures were so rooted in the Caribbean that it was just so clear to me that he was painting both kind of like a Caribbean history, but also Caribbean futures.
- [12:49]
Bonnie Ramirez
Right.
- [12:50]
Elena Munoz Rodriguez
Like, it's a little bit of both, like these alternate possibilities.
- [12:53]
Koosha Navadar
I would love if you could kind of paint the image for us about what folks will experience once they walk into the exhibition room. Like, how many pieces do they see? What's the first thing that you see?
- [13:04]
Elena Munoz Rodriguez
Well, depending on where you enter into the space. So if you're coming off the elevator, one of the first pieces that you'll see in that first room is the Freddy Rodriguez painting that Bonnie mentioned, as well as a new painting by Bonnie of two. Two men embracing. And then a self portrait of Bonnie called Sitting on a Bucket of Paint. Self portrait as a Calf. And so there is a taxidermied calf and it's a site specific installation. But as you, you'll see an eight foot round tondo painting at the back of the gallery that even though it's a very long space, I feel that she's one of the first things you really see and you really gravitate towards. She has such a presence. And you'll also see a wall of chains. So it is. Or I should say an arch of chains. So there are these architectural elements that we've incorporated into the exhibition as well.
- [14:12]
Koosha Navadar
We're talking about Cattleya, which display now at the Newark Museum of Art. And we're speaking about that exhibition that has been inspired by a year that Bonnie Ramirez spent in the museum's collections. Bonnie, going into your story a little bit more, before you were a full time artist, you worked in construction, right?
- [14:36]
Bonnie Ramirez
Yes, yes.
- [14:36]
Koosha Navadar
And I'm curious and maybe just the answer is no here, but construction workers are skilled laborers. Was there anything from the craft of your construction job, the discipline, the effort required, that has an aspect of your work today as an artist?
- [14:50]
Bonnie Ramirez
100%. So I think, you know, as a self taught artist, I think I worked a lot of, with one, with a lot of things that were just available to me. So I had to, you know, construction as well as being an artist, they require a lot of like, problem solving, like just work with what you have kind of thing. So I think a lot of the, you know, at that point I didn't realize it When I was working construction. But I think looking back at it, you know, a lot of the skills, you know, my work is, you know, working in sculpture. And a lot of these, like, more sculptural paintings as well, they require, like, technical, technical, technical stuff that really, you know, coming from construction, a lot of those skills, you know, played a role in. So, you know, just, like, a lot. Some paintings, like, include, like, they have these, like, almost like this wooden compositions. A lot of, like, you know, there's this painting that have in the show that has, like, a machete attached to it. There's another painting that has almost like, this shelve, you know, as part of the painting itself that, you know, a lot of the skills that I learned in construction kind of played a role in me learning about, like, just, you know, using a handsaw, using, like, you know, cutting marble and different things that I was never. I never thought it was gonna be helpful, but I'm very. I think, you know, it's one of those things that let you see, like, why the universe put you in certain spaces.
- [16:08]
Koosha Navadar
Well, speaking of that, I understand that while you worked in construction, your studio was often your mother's kitchen.
- [16:13]
Bonnie Ramirez
Yes.
- [16:14]
Koosha Navadar
Did she have to warn you about keeping the kitchen clean? What was that d. Dynamic like?
- [16:17]
Bonnie Ramirez
Yeah, so basically, you know, you know, even going back to the main, you know, the first question, you know, a lot of the. I work on wood panels, so at that point, I made my own wood panels that they had to be a certain size because, you know, they had to fit within the kitchen and, you know, small enough also that I could just, like, put them back in my closet when I was not working on it also. Yeah, I think it was definitely restrictive in that sense of, like, there. There was a lot of stuff that I couldn't use or the last stuff that I had to, like, make sure to keep it clean, or there were days where it's like, you know, I had, like, Sundays to paint, but if she was, as my mom was, like, cooking that, then I couldn't really paint and had to do something else. So I would say, you know, just for example, when I finally had an art studio, it was definitely, like, another, you know, like, my work definitely grew. And I think that's where I started using even more of those skills that I learned in construction because I didn't have to worry about, you know, the cutting wood and different things that would. In a kitchen setting, it would not be the best.
- [17:09]
Koosha Navadar
Well, you know, it is such a relatable and, I think, inspiring story, too. Even just the dedication that it requires to make art. And there are plenty of young artists out there who are now in our area who want to do what you do, but maybe have to support their family or don't have the money or unsure about how to take the next step from your experience. What's one piece of advice that you give to a young artist who was in a. Is in a similar position that you were in?
- [17:35]
Bonnie Ramirez
I think, you know, and it's. A lot of people say this, but. And even myself, I was a little skeptical about it when people say, oh, follow your dreams, believing yourself. But I would say that that would be my, you know, my advice as well. Definitely believe in yourself and your practice. That that's really going to take you far. I think, you know, it's good even sometimes to be a little bit, even delusional about certain things, you know, because I think, you know, being an artist is not easy. You know, it's not like, you know, you want to be a doctor and you get certain degrees and you just become a doctor. You know, like here is a lot of it. There's a lot of different things that can go into play into being a quote unquote successful artist. But I think it's very important to know where you want to go for you to then see how to get there. So I think. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I think for a lot of artists, I think that the more clear your goal is, the clearer it is, you know, the road to it.
- [18:29]
Koosha Navadar
Yeah.
- [18:30]
Bonnie Ramirez
You know, in the beginning, you know, I knew what I wanted to be and I think it was just more figuring out how do I get there. But I think, you know, it is also okay to just go with the wind. But I think it is very important for you to have a clear idea of what you want to be as an artist, because there's so many avenues to the arts. For example, like, you don't have to necessarily be. I'm just speaking from like the gallery artist, you know, standpoint, you know, if that's what you want to do, just have that clear. Or just any other artistic, you know, sides.
- [18:57]
Koosha Navadar
We'll have to pause it there, but I want to ask real quickly, you know, in 10 seconds, I know that there is a book signing event. Elena, can you say just where it is when it is?
- [19:05]
Elena Munoz Rodriguez
On Saturday, May 18, we're having an American art convening called Changing It Up. And as part of this all day artist led event, we will be having a book signing at 1pm at the museum.
- [19:17]
Koosha Navadar
We've been talking to Bonnie. Bonnie Ramirez and Elena Munoz Rodriguez. Bonnie is the artist behind Cat Leah. It is on display now at the Newark Museum of Art. Thank you both so much.
- [19:29]
Bonnie Ramirez
Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you.
- [19:30]
Elena Munoz Rodriguez
Thank you for having us.
- [19:31]
Bonnie Ramirez
Thank you for having us.
- [19:34]
McDonald's Announcer
How many times have you wished you could be in two places at once? With wix, you practically can. Wix's website builder is packed with powerful AI tools to make running your business online easy. Build a full site just by talking with AI, get an AI agent to manage your sales and marketing, or work like a 10 person team, even if it's just you. So you don't need superpowers to get everything done. You just need Wix. Try it now for free@wix.com I'm gonna.
- [20:02]
Casual Male Speaker
Put you on, nephew.
- [20:03]
Bonnie Ramirez
All right. Don't.
- [20:04]
McDonald's Announcer
Welcome to McDonald's.
- [20:05]
Elena Munoz Rodriguez
Can I take your order, miss?
- [20:06]
Casual Male Speaker
I've been hitting up McDonald's for years. Now it's back. We need snack wraps. What's a snack wrap? It's the return of something great. Snack wrap is back.