• Paul Henry Ramirez, Sweet On, 2018, site-specific installation, acrylic on canvas, wall mural, and stained glass mural.
    Courtesy of the artist and RYAN LEE, New York © Paul Henry Ramirez, paulhenryramirez.art

    Paul Henry Ramirez, Sweet On, 2018, site-specific installation, acrylic on canvas, wall mural, and stained glass mural.
    Courtesy of the artist and RYAN LEE, New York © Paul Henry Ramirez, paulhenryramirez.art

  • Paul Henry Ramirez, Sweet On, 2018, site-specific installation, acrylic on canvas, wall mural, and stained glass mural.
    Courtesy of the artist and RYAN LEE, New York © Paul Henry Ramirez, paulhenryramirez.art

    Paul Henry Ramirez, Sweet On, 2018, site-specific installation, acrylic on canvas, wall mural, and stained glass mural.
    Courtesy of the artist and RYAN LEE, New York © Paul Henry Ramirez, paulhenryramirez.art

  • Paul Henry Ramirez, Sweet On, 2018, site-specific installation, acrylic on canvas, wall mural, and stained glass mural.
    Courtesy of the artist and RYAN LEE, New York © Paul Henry Ramirez, paulhenryramirez.art

    Paul Henry Ramirez, Sweet On, 2018, site-specific installation, acrylic on canvas, wall mural, and stained glass mural.
    Courtesy of the artist and RYAN LEE, New York © Paul Henry Ramirez, paulhenryramirez.art

  • Paul Henry Ramirez, Sweet On, 2018, site-specific installation, acrylic on canvas, wall mural, and stained glass mural.
    Courtesy of the artist and RYAN LEE, New York © Paul Henry Ramirez, paulhenryramirez.art

    Paul Henry Ramirez, Sweet On, 2018, site-specific installation, acrylic on canvas, wall mural, and stained glass mural.
    Courtesy of the artist and RYAN LEE, New York © Paul Henry Ramirez, paulhenryramirez.art

Paul Henry Ramirez: Sweet On

Friday, August 17, 2018 to Sunday, July 28, 2019
Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art

Sweet On is a site-responsive installation by Texas-born, New Jersey-based artist Paul Henry Ramirez. Ramirez drew inspiration for this work from a quotation attributed to R. Crosby Kemper Jr. (1927–2014) in the anniversary publication Marking 20 Years: Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art: “Joy is to be surrounded by beauty.”

Over the past two decades Ramirez has embraced beauty in his art and has sought to bring joy to those who view it. In 2010, Paul Henry Ramirez coined the term biogeomorphic abstraction to describe his own bold style, a fusion of biomorphic and geometric forms. In his site-specific installations, Ramirez approaches architectural space as an empty canvas pushing the boundaries of painting and how the viewer experiences it. He layers luscious colors and bold forms, configuring them into an assemblage of canvases and stained-glass-like murals joined together by painting directly onto the wall, creating an immersive multidimensional environment. The teardrop shapes, softened edges, fleshy tones, and hairline markings have a remarkable resemblance to the body. As Ramirez notes, he wants the viewer to “feel as if they’re inside the belly of the work.” His references to the body are visible in the actions of the abstract forms he employs—dripping, flopping, bubbling, bursting, stretching, and pooling—which scatter across the wall and begin to change in form and opacity as they engage the façades of the Museum entrance and Shop.

Ramirez’s abstract installation also conjures the texture and forms of such references as toys, candy, cosmetics, and cartoons, presenting an awareness of the body and its influence on the materials and shapes of manufactured objects and imagery. Sweet On embraces the sophistication of the body and its abilities to elicit joy, one of our most sought-after emotions.

Financial assistance was provided by generous donors and members, especially Missouri Arts Council, a state agency.

Lead Sponsors
Christy and Bill Gautreaux

Sustaining Sponsors
Norm Fretwell and Bev Haskins
James and Virginia Moffett

About the Artist

Paul Henry Ramirez (American, born 1963) earned his degree from the University of Texas at El Paso. Ramirez has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions projects at Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri (2018); Ryan Lee Gallery, New York (2018); Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, New Jersey (2016); VOLTA NY (2015); Galerie Richard, New York (2011); and The Newark Museum, Newark, New Jersey (2010). His works have also been featured in group exhibitions including Shifting Gaze: A Reconstruction of the Black & Hispanic Body in Contemporary Art, from the collection of Dr. Robert B. Feldman, Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, Virginia Beach, VA (2020); The El Paso Museum of Art 60 Years of Collecting, El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso, Texas (2019); Science Paints Our World: Chemistry & Art, Midland Center for the Arts, Midland, Michigan (2019); AMPlified ABStraction, organized by Patrick Shaw Cable, PhD, El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso, Texas (2014); The Intimacy of Abstraction, curated by Chelse L. Cookesey, Dorsky Gallery Programs, Long Island City, NY (2014); Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art, traveling exhibition organized by E. Carmen Ramos, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC (2013-2017); and Open Daybook, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA (2010). Ramirez’s work is held in major collections including Austin Museum of Art, Austin, TX; Eli and Edyth Broad Art Museum, East Lansing, MI; El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso, TX; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC; The Newark Museum, Newark, NJ; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY. The Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art, Washington, DC have acquired the Paul Henry Ramirez Papers for their permanent collection.