BONY RAMIREZ

‘Bayahibe’ (2022), on loan from the collection of Priscila & Alvin Hudgins, features a nude woman emerging from or bathing in a bright aquamarine sea, her eyes covered by her hands, framed by soft rose-colored curtain that seems to have just been raised to reveal her. The woman feels like a contemporary Caribbean Venus, birthed from the waters and yet shielding her vision from the public gaze.

Also on display are Harvest #1 (Conch), Harvest #2 (Shell) & Harvest #3 (Coconut), a series of three chains, adorned with shells, conchs and coconuts, symbols of the artists Caribbean roots. The chains or shackles dangle eerily in the space, a reminder of the dark history of the foundations that built the caribbean. The beauty of the natural world, remnants washed from the sea cascade down man-made symbols of power and enslavement.

Self-taught artist Bony Ramírez paints large-scale figures inspired by his childhood memories of the Dominican Republic, cartoonish children’s illustrations, and the anatomical inaccuracies of the Italian Mannerist painters. Ramírez paints his distorted figures on paper using acrylic wash, colored pencils, and oil pastels before cutting them out and pasting them to wood panels decorated with backgrounds painted in acrylics. The characters in his narrative paintings often possess outsized eyes and body parts, as in ‘The Last Day, Ultimo Día En El Campo (2021)’, in which a boy walks on distended and discolored feet, holding a tire with clubbed fingers. he artist has spoken about how the Caribbean ocean is an essential part of his experience growing up and as such an extension of his work, The longing for the Caribbean warmth and sea after relocating to New Jersey and the feelings of displacement or longing for this childhood surroundings are frequently explored in his work. In addition to his painting practice, Ramírez also produces figurative sculptures with clay, resin, and other materials. The New Jersey–based artist has been exhibiting his work since 2014 and participated in a group show at the Hudson Valley Museum of Contemporary Art in 2019, for which he received a Visitors Choice Award.