TORO!
Draped in crimson, Bony Ramirez intertwines girl and beast.
TORO! explores the impact of colonisation in Ramirez’s homeland, the Dominican Republic, in an edition of hand-finished prints. In place of a...
Draped in crimson, Bony Ramirez intertwines girl and beast.
TORO! explores the impact of colonisation in Ramirez’s homeland, the Dominican Republic, in an edition of hand-finished prints. In place of a toreador, a child lounges with the bull, existing in harmony – unsettling the narrative of the native savage and the civilised coloniser. The two are framed against a pointelle backdrop in the style of wallpaper Ramirez pastes into his original works, in traditionally European patterns.
Both bodies, animal and human, are warped into anatomical impossibilities. Ramirez takes stylistic inspiration from artists such as Francis Bacon and Picasso, while the positioning of figures calls to mind Manet’s famous Olympia (1863). Each silkscreen print has been uniquely hand-finished by the artist with different faces, hair styles and accessories.