VMA’s Ramirez Showcased Powerful Photos at State House for Hispanic Heritage Month

Visual & Media Arts Associate Professor Camilo Ramirez’s cultural background and upbringing greatly influence his art.

Those influences are evident in his photos that were part of a Hispanic Heritage Month Art Exhibition at the Massachusetts State House.

Ramirez answered several questions from Emerson Today about his art and photos in the exhibit.

What are the two photos, La Tertulia and Licores Las Vegas, in the exhibit about?

Ramirez: La Tertulia is made in Cali, Colombia at a museum by the same name. The title also literally translates into “a meeting or gathering, usually to discuss art, philosophy, or literature”. There’s a kind of contradiction I appreciate with the lonely figure in the frame surrounded by empty space on the, but also lost in deep thought despite sitting precariously on the wall.

Similarly, the title for Licores Las Vegas is drawn from the signage in the background of the image itself. In Medellin, Colombia, on 77th Street, are a series of “fondas” or themed bars and restaurants. They mostly come alive at night, but in the day time you might encounter a scene like this where this bar is closed and locked, but a street performer playing Mexican mariachi music plays nearby. I’m interested in the contradictions and unlikely collision of the flatly printed liquor bottles in the background, the reference to Las Vegas as an influence of American culture within Colombia, and the expression on this lone mariachi’s face.

What media did you use?

Ramirez: These photographs were made with a high-resolution digital camera. The framed exhibition prints are archival pigment prints measuring 24×30 inches.

Your photos are part of your Reconicido series. Tell me about that.

Ramirez: My life and upbringing in the U.S. have been a world of living displaced between two languages, cultures, and histories, and constantly moving around with no sense of home. I have fragmented memories of my family’s heritage before we migrated from Colombia to the U.S. when I was a child. As an adult returning to my parents’ homeland, my sense of displacement only increased. However, photographing what felt like imagined childhood memories in Colombia became a way to fill what feel like the missing pieces. The photographs embody my sensations of remaining longing and loss.

A new visual language surfaced from my remaining Colombian parts merged with my American sensibilities. I found this offered me a better way to understanding than any questions I could ask with my now broken Spanish. I often reflect on my extended family, many of whom still live there, the violent history of Colombia, it’s people and beauty, the poverty, and richness found in everyday life; and the kind of life I might have lived had we stayed, and who I might have become.

What does it mean to you to have your works selected for the exhibit?

Ramirez: It’s a great honor to be selected for this exhibition, and I’m thankful to the Massachusetts Cultural Council for the invitation, and the Governer’s Office for hosting organizing the show, and the wonderful staff who organized all of the events including the artist panel discussion, which was my favorite part of this. It was a joy to represent and exhibit with fellow Latin artists in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, especially as the child of a first-generation immigrant family. I’m also incredibly grateful to have the opportunity to share my work with aspiring Latinx artists from several community advocacy groups (La Colaborativa, IBA Boston, Elevated Thought) who visited the State House for our panel discussion.