For this episode of PARA/normal Borders, Ed sits down with Los Angeles-based artist Ramon Ramirez to discuss Chicano art as resistance to state repression, artmaking as a spiritual practice, and the paranormal as a way of coping with systemic injustice.
The conversation begins with an exploration of Ramon’s previous background in architectural design, his passion for educating, and the East L.A. landscapes of his childhood that continue to serve as his artistic muse. From there, he opens up about a series of profound paranormal experiences that have defined his work and worldview—ranging from hair-raising encounters with La Llorona to meditative communion with ancestral spirit guides. Ramon identifies otherworldly spirits as collaborators in his artmaking practice, providing him with divine inspiration as he paints. Through painting, Ramon opens portals to worlds unseen and imagines infinite futures yet to be defined.
Although he has exhibited work nationwide, Ramon finds fulfillment not through institutional recognition, but in the complete freedom to paint, to wonder, and to dream. For Ramon, painting is not a luxury, but a necessity. Under a regime that threatens cultural erasure and physical dispossession, art remains one of the only avenues through which we can connect with our environments, our communities, our ancestors, and ourselves.
Ramon is currently featured in a group exhibition at Loyola Marymount University’s Laband Art Gallery, Seeing Chicanx: The Durón Family Collection. The exhibition closes on December 5th.
The PARA/normal Borders Podcast is made possible by a grant from the Mellon Foundation.
See more from Ramon!
http://jaguarland.biz/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaguarland
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Photo Credits and Image Sources:
- [0:45] Ramon’s early career and UC Berkeley years; first exhibitions and urban landscape paintings
- [9:05] Chicano Art: Resistance and Affirmation (CARA) show at UCLA. Courtesy of UCLA Wight Art Gallery and the CARA National Advisory Committee. Image credit Internet Archive.
- [9:30] Mentions of Gronk, Magu, Romero, and Patssi Valdez [photograph of Los Four ]. Courtesy of Calisphere. Image credit Beto de la Rocha.
- [9:55] Emplumada by Lorna Dee Cervantes. Courtesy of the Pitt Poetry Series. Image credit University of Pittsburgh Press.
- [11:20] Ruben Salazar. Courtesy of LA Times. Image credit Jose Galvez.
- [11:49] Sepultura and Vicente Fernández. [FOR SEPULTURA] Courtesy of Redferns / GRAMMY.com. Image credit Mick Hutson.[FOR VICENTE]Courtesy of Associated Press / NY Times. Image credit Chris Pizzello.
- [12:20] 1Q84 (Haruki Murakami).
Courtesy of Knopf / Vintage International (Penguin Random House). Image credit Chip Kidd. - [14:55] “Frogs and pandas” — surreal protest imagery from Portland art scene. [1st image] Courtesy of San Francisco Chronicle / Getty Images. Image credit Stephen Lam. [2nd image] Courtesy NBC News. Image credit Alicia Lozano.
- [16:00] Japanese Chicano cultural appropriation Courtesy of NY Times. Photo credit Alexandra Eaton / Emily Rhyne.
- [20:45] J.M.W. Turner, Snow Storm – Steam-Boat off a Harbo ur’s Mouth, 1842. Courtesy de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA.
- [22:45] Large-scale sunset paintings by Ramon Ramirez. IG: @jaguarland
- [43:19] Joseph Beuys. Courtesy Artsy.net. Image credit Alastair Thain.
- [56:14] Temple pyramid at Tula, Hidalgo, MX. Courtesy Britannica.
- [56:56] Don Miguel Ruiz, The Four Agreements. Courtesy of Amber-Allen Publishing. Cover illustration by Nicholas Wilton; cover design by Michele Wetherbee.
- [58:40] Jaguars at Tula and Ramon’s linocut. [1st] Courtesy of RAÍCES. Image credit Marco Antonio Pacheco. [2nd] Courtesy of the artist.
- [49:34] Realization of painting La Llorona; recurring eyes and skulls. IG: @jaguarland
Selected resources and recommended reading/viewing for further research:
Chicano Art: Resistance and Affirmation, 1965–1985 exhibition catalogue
Emplumada by Lorna Dee Cervantes
¡Tenemos Asco!: An Oral History of the Chicano Art Group by Sean Carrillo, Harry Gamboa Jr., Willie Herrón, Glugio ‘Gronk’ Nicandro, Humberto Sandoval, Joey Terrill and Patssi Valdez in Frieze
Latinx Files: 50 years after their historic LACMA show, Los Four are as relevant as ever by Sarah Quiñones Wolfson for De Los
“Who is a Chicano? And What Is It Chicanos Want?” by Ruben Salazar for The Los Angeles Times
Slain L.A. Times columnist Ruben Salazar matters more than ever, 55 years later by Gustavo Arellano for The Los Angeles Times
1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
Costumed protesters in Portland defy description of the city as a ‘war zone’ by Alicia Victoria Lozano for NBC News
Inside Japan’s Chicano Subculture | NYT by Walter Thompson-Hernández for The New York Times
LMU’s Laband Art Gallery Presents “Seeing Chicanx: The Durón Family Collection,” a Visual History of L.A.’s Chicanx Art Scene exhibition press release
Joseph Beuys Predicted the “Manosphere” by Renée Reizman for Hyperallergic
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
“Toltecs Build Tula” by David A. Crain