Press Release: Juan Miguel Ramos
New Works: 02.3
11.08.02
New Works: 02.3
November 8, 2002 – January 12, 2003
Giuseppe Gabellone Milan, Italy
Juan Miguel Ramos San Antonio, TX
Aïda Ruilova New York, New York
Selected by Francesco Bonami
About the Artist
Juan Miguel Ramos holds an MFA from the University of Texas at San Antonio and
teaches photography and drawing at Northwest Vista Community College, San
Antonio, TX. Truly a product of San Antonio's art education, Ramos began his
training at the age of eight, when he attended the Southwest School of Arts and
Crafts. Subsequently, he studied at the San Antonio Art Institute, the Guadalupe
Cultural Arts Center and earned his BFA from the University of Texas at San
Antonio.
Ramos' work has exhibited nationally and has been featured in individual exhibitions at Mexic-Arte Museum, Austin, TX; Sala Diaz, Cactus Bra Art Space, and the UTSA Satellite Space, San Antonio, TX.
Juan Miguel Ramos was selected for the 02.3 residency by Francesco Bonami. Francesco Bonami is the Manilow Senior Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL, and Director of Visual Arts for the 50th Biennale di Venezia, 2003.
About the Project
Juan Miguel Ramos challenges the assumptions that we hold about
communal identity. Based in San Antonio, Ramos develops multimedia projects
which utilize video, photography, Sharpie® drawings, and text to question
stereotypes and to suggest the mercurial nature of identity.
Ramos is a San Antonio native whose multimedia work may be seen as depicting
the world of the young Mexican-Americans—or not. While his earliest work seems
to examine American youth of Generation X—to which he belongs—his
examination of the city of San Antonio, his community, family, and friends are a
constant, ongoing theme.
In his most recent work The Banner Project, a public-art project commissioned by the Museo Americano, Ramos has taken a new direction, focusing on memories and storytelling of people from different backgrounds and ages. Their common link is Milam Park in San Antonio and the popular stories that surround it. At the same time, Ramos asks us to think twice about our interpretation of the exterior. His work references memory but disclaims any assumptions the viewer might make about his characters. His streetlight banners elevate personal storytelling while reminding us that the history of textbooks is as subjective as storytelling.
During his residency, Ramos created a two-screen video projection with a narrative soundtrack. His subject is the south side of San Antonio where he grew up. In almost seven minutes, the video captures four scenes depicting four individual characters, each with his or her own monologue. While the first character morphs into a drawn figure, the viewer never sees a photographic image of the other three characters—they are drawn throughout. Ramos has installed the piece on adjacent screens in one corner of the gallery, giving viewers a three- dimensional sense of place. This physical sense is heightened by the video's mechanical documentation of place, while the drawings and the meanings of their stories reside in the imagination of the artist and the viewer. The parameters that inform Ramos' approach may be those of identity, but in the end, one questions what that identity is.
Exhibition Dates
November 8, 2002 — January 12, 2003
Opening Reception
Friday, November 8, 6:30-8:30 PM
Artists' Dialogue
Saturday, November 9, 6:30-8:00 PM
Featuring Giuseppe Gabellone, Juan Miguel Ramos, and Aïda Ruilova. Moderated
by Francesco Bonami, Manilow Senior Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art,
Chicago, IL, and Director of Visual Arts, 50th Biennale di Venezia, 2003.
Brown Bag Lunch
Wednesday, January 8, 2003, 12:00-1:00 PM
Join us for a tour of New Works: 02.3 and a brown bag lunch provided by
Pecan Street Deli. Please call ArtPace to make reservations.
Event Locations
All events held at ArtPace, 445 N. Main Avenue. Free parking at Flores Street and
Savings. ArtPace is open to the public Wednesday thru Sunday, 12-5 PM,
Thursday until 8 PM and by appointment. There is no charge for admission.
445 North Main Avenue San Antonio TX 78205 t 210 212 4900 f 210 212 4990 www.artpace.org
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