Fifth in the Global Contemporary series, this exhibition showcases new large-scale paintings and site-specific installations by Bony Ramirez.
Over the course of a year, he explored the Museum’s collections broadly, with a focus on historic portraiture, landscape, and contemporary art. Childhood memories of the Dominican Republic and the complicated histories of the Caribbean inform his surreal narrative style. Cattleya is a genus of orchid native to Central and South America that Ramirez associates with colonialism. The exhibition probes the legacy of colonialism and the effects of the tourism industry in the Caribbean, while also reimagining what resistance can look like.
Global Contemporary is a series of year-long installations showcasing new work by living artists in dialogue with the Museum’s collections.
About the Artist
Bony Ramirez is a Dominican-born artist who lives and works in New Jersey. A self-taught artist, he paints surreal images of contemporary Caribbean life, as well as reimagining colonial histories. He engages with Western European painting traditions as a way to think about the colonial influence still present in the Caribbean.