STATEMENT
I grew up in the Central Valley surrounded by natural color fields. Crop rotations regularly presented different forms and textures, and each season brought new colors in blocks and rows. These geometric structures and planes that formed the wide-open landscape of my youth have always played strongly in my imagination and compositions.
The relatively empty fields stand in stark contrast to a sterile sky, the gargantuan homes built window to window, and the highways slicing through recession hit towns. Flat planes are interrupted by jutting rectangles and cubes, the most elemental forms of drawing and painting. These lines and structures bear the weight of my compositions. Color ties them to emotion. In my paintings, elements of abstraction and formal structure are incorporated to lend ambiguity to the implied narrative of each piece. The story is left to the viewer.
RESUME
Michele Ramirez
9852 Lawlor Street
Oakland, CA 94605
EDUCATION
MFA Drawing and Printmaking. University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Certificate of Printmaking. California State University Stanislaus
BA Studio Art. California State University Stanislaus
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2010 "Everything Beautiful is Far Away" Bryant Street Gallery, Palo Alto
2009 “New Works on Paper” Rowan Morrison Gallery, Oakland
2008 "Bypasses and Intersections: Scenes from the Other California" San Leandro Museum and Art Gallery
2007 "Un Lugar Solitario" Gallery of Urban Art, Oakland
2006 "Paintings from Exile" Rowan Morrison Gallery, Oakland
2005 "Harvest" Venge Vineyards, St Helena
2002 "Re: Figuration" Ardency Gallery, Oakland
2001 "Michele Ramirez: New Works" Hey Gallery, Oakland
"Rising/Converging" Merced Cultural Arts Center
2000 "New Works from Michele Ramirez" Carnegie Art Center, Turlock
1995 "Yo Soy Americana" Greensboro Cultural Art Center, North Carolina
GROUP EXHIBTIONS
2009 “6th Annual Miniatures Show”, First Street Gallery, Turlock
2008 "Views from Within a Culture" Kings Art Center, Hanford
"California Landscapes" First Street Gallery, Turlock
"Move" Greenlining Gallery, Berkeley
"9 Mujures" Womens Gallery, San Francisco
2007 "Las Mujeres"" Galeria Tonantzin, San Juan Bautista
"Sixth Annual Miniatures Show" First Street Gallery, Turlock
"Nueve Mujeres" Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, San Francisco
2006 "Chicano Encounters:Local Places and Global Communities" de Young Museum, San Francisco
"Salud" Womens Cancer Resource Center, Oakland
2006 "Bay Area Celebration of the Arts" ArtSFest, San Francisco
2004 "Solo Mujeres: Women and Spirituality" Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, San Francisco
"Arte Latino" Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica
"Ojos Indigenas" Corazon del Pueblo Gallery, Oakland
2002 "Solo Mujeres: Needles and Brushes" Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, San Francisco
2001 "Obra Grafica" Carnegie Art Center, Turlock
1999 "MMM" Abstrakt Zone, Oakland
1995 "Graduate Exhibition" Weatherspoon Gallery, Greensboro
AWARDS
2007 George Sugarman Foundation Grant, San Rafael
RESIDENCIES
2008 Stonehouse Residency for the Contemporary Arts, Miramonte
COLLECTIONS
Kaiser Permanente, Oakland
Public Policy Institute of California, San Francisco
Public Policy Institute of California, Sacramento
City of Oakland
Keever Vineyards, Yountville
Stonehouse Residency for the Contemporary Arts, Miramonte
City of Richmond Civic Center
PUBLICATIONS
2009 Artists and Poets Magazine, November Issue
2008 The Business Journal of Hispanic Research
Somos Medicina
2007 Other Investigations
2005 Wines and Vines
1997 Mungo Vs Ranger
1993 Penumbra
PRESS
2008 "Rural Life Sticks with Painter" The Fresno Bee, interview by Mary Aguirre
"Latino Artists Explore Roots at Kings Art Center" The Hanford Sentinel, interview by Wendy E. Arevalo
2007 "Culture in the Galleries: Un Lugar Solitario" The East Bay Express, reviewed by Jakki Spicer
2006 "In the Galleries: Paintings from Exile" The East Bay Monthly, reviewed by Timothy Buckwalter
I grew up in the Central Valley surrounded by natural color fields. Crop rotations regularly presented different forms and textures, and each season brought new colors in blocks and rows. These geometric structures and planes that formed the wide-open landscape of my youth have always played strongly in my imagination and compositions.
The relatively empty fields stand in stark contrast to a sterile sky, the gargantuan homes built window to window, and the highways slicing through recession hit towns. Flat planes are interrupted by jutting rectangles and cubes, the most elemental forms of drawing and painting. These lines and structures bear the weight of my compositions. Color ties them to emotion. In my paintings, elements of abstraction and formal structure are incorporated to lend ambiguity to the implied narrative of each piece. The story is left to the viewer.
RESUME
Michele Ramirez
9852 Lawlor Street
Oakland, CA 94605
EDUCATION
MFA Drawing and Printmaking. University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Certificate of Printmaking. California State University Stanislaus
BA Studio Art. California State University Stanislaus
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2010 "Everything Beautiful is Far Away" Bryant Street Gallery, Palo Alto
2009 “New Works on Paper” Rowan Morrison Gallery, Oakland
2008 "Bypasses and Intersections: Scenes from the Other California" San Leandro Museum and Art Gallery
2007 "Un Lugar Solitario" Gallery of Urban Art, Oakland
2006 "Paintings from Exile" Rowan Morrison Gallery, Oakland
2005 "Harvest" Venge Vineyards, St Helena
2002 "Re: Figuration" Ardency Gallery, Oakland
2001 "Michele Ramirez: New Works" Hey Gallery, Oakland
"Rising/Converging" Merced Cultural Arts Center
2000 "New Works from Michele Ramirez" Carnegie Art Center, Turlock
1995 "Yo Soy Americana" Greensboro Cultural Art Center, North Carolina
GROUP EXHIBTIONS
2009 “6th Annual Miniatures Show”, First Street Gallery, Turlock
2008 "Views from Within a Culture" Kings Art Center, Hanford
"California Landscapes" First Street Gallery, Turlock
"Move" Greenlining Gallery, Berkeley
"9 Mujures" Womens Gallery, San Francisco
2007 "Las Mujeres"" Galeria Tonantzin, San Juan Bautista
"Sixth Annual Miniatures Show" First Street Gallery, Turlock
"Nueve Mujeres" Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, San Francisco
2006 "Chicano Encounters:Local Places and Global Communities" de Young Museum, San Francisco
"Salud" Womens Cancer Resource Center, Oakland
2006 "Bay Area Celebration of the Arts" ArtSFest, San Francisco
2004 "Solo Mujeres: Women and Spirituality" Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, San Francisco
"Arte Latino" Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica
"Ojos Indigenas" Corazon del Pueblo Gallery, Oakland
2002 "Solo Mujeres: Needles and Brushes" Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, San Francisco
2001 "Obra Grafica" Carnegie Art Center, Turlock
1999 "MMM" Abstrakt Zone, Oakland
1995 "Graduate Exhibition" Weatherspoon Gallery, Greensboro
AWARDS
2007 George Sugarman Foundation Grant, San Rafael
RESIDENCIES
2008 Stonehouse Residency for the Contemporary Arts, Miramonte
COLLECTIONS
Kaiser Permanente, Oakland
Public Policy Institute of California, San Francisco
Public Policy Institute of California, Sacramento
City of Oakland
Keever Vineyards, Yountville
Stonehouse Residency for the Contemporary Arts, Miramonte
City of Richmond Civic Center
PUBLICATIONS
2009 Artists and Poets Magazine, November Issue
2008 The Business Journal of Hispanic Research
Somos Medicina
2007 Other Investigations
2005 Wines and Vines
1997 Mungo Vs Ranger
1993 Penumbra
PRESS
2008 "Rural Life Sticks with Painter" The Fresno Bee, interview by Mary Aguirre
"Latino Artists Explore Roots at Kings Art Center" The Hanford Sentinel, interview by Wendy E. Arevalo
2007 "Culture in the Galleries: Un Lugar Solitario" The East Bay Express, reviewed by Jakki Spicer
2006 "In the Galleries: Paintings from Exile" The East Bay Monthly, reviewed by Timothy Buckwalter