AURIE RAMIREZ

Untitled, N.D.

Watercolor and ink on paper

Unframed: 23 ½ x 35 ½ inches (59.7 x 90.2 cm)

Framed: 26 x 37 ¼ x ½ inches (66 x 94.6 x 1.3 cm)

Courtesy of Creative Growth

Selected by Marty Eisenberg 

Aurie Ramirez’s sophisticated and delicately rendered watercolor and ink compositions create a fantasy world of 18th century dandyism, neo-Victorian decorum, psychedelia, glam rock sex, and anthropomorphic food. With imagery ranging the full spectrum from saccharine landscapes with smiling suns to punk fetishism and hardcore erotica, Ramirez explores sexuality, fashion, violence, and forbidden foods. Often depicting groups of women in KISS garb (Ramirez’s favorite band and most profound visual touchstone), Ramirez presents these women and their ephemera in endless iterations like paper dolls. In another series, she explores her Filipino heritage and childhood memories by reimagining traditional wardrobe on her red and green pinstriped characters. Ramirez is obsessive in her production, filling sketchbooks with dozens of compositions in a single day.

Ramirez’s work has been exhibited at galleries and museums internationally, including White Columns and Gavin Brown’s enterprise in New York; Jack Hanley Gallery, Los Angeles; ABCD, Paris; Collection de l'Art Brut, Switzerland; and MAD musée, Belgium.