Chuck Ramirez, Whatacup, 2002

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Permanent ink print

72 x 48 in, 182.9 x 121.9 cm
or 28 x 20 in, 71.1 x 50.8 cm

Edition of 6

Originally commissioned by Artpace | San Antonio
Whatacup was part of Chuck Ramirez’s “Bean & Cheese” exhibition, which came from his 2002 Artpace, San Antonio Artist in Residency Program. “In his 2008 interview with David Rubin, which occurred before a live audience, Ramirez addressed some of his canonical works, including the chocolate trays he illuminated and photographed. He took particular care to explore one of his other personal favorites: Whatacup. He explained that the legend it bore drew him to this particular object in addition to its formal elements. “That little first-person statement said, ‘When I am empty, please dispose of me properly.’ And it just seemed to typify everything I was trying to talk about — about this consumption. It seemed like an epitaph for something, for this cup.” Much has been and should be made of the theme of mortality running through Ramirez’s work. Having been diagnosed with HIV in 1990, he labored under the sentence until the late ’90s, during which time protease inhibitors and other post-AZT cocktail treatments began lengthening the lives of the positive. But even beyond this lived memento mori, Ramirez struggled with the tensions between disposability and value in his life and larger human culture.” Fisch, Sarah. “Chuck Ramirez Career Retrospective Spans Venues, Decades, and Distance,” San Antonio Current, September 13, 2017.

Exhibitions

Day Jobs, Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University, CA; curator: Veronica Roberts, directors: John and Jill Freidenrich, curatorial assistant: Jorge Sibaja, 2024 (catalogue)

Day Jobs, Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, TX; curator: Veronica Roberts, curatorial assistant: Lynne Maphies, 2023.

Chuck Ramirez: Metaphorical Portraits, Ruiz-Healy Art, San Antonio, TX; 2020 (catalogue)
Chuck Ramirez: All This and Heaven Too, McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, TX; curators: Rene Paul Barilleaux and Hilary Schroeder, 2017 (catalogue)
Prematurely Discarded: Photography of Chuck Ramirez, Octavia Art Gallery, Houston, TX; curator: Illa Gaunt, 2015
Chuck Ramirez: Minimally Baroque, Ruiz-Healy Art, and Blue Star Contemporary, San Antonio, TX; curator: Victor Zamudio-Taylor 2011 (catalogue)
Chuck Ramírez: Bean & Cheese, International Artist-in-Residence Program, Artpace, San Antonio, TX; curator: Jérôme Sans, 2002 (brochure)

Literature

Schiffman, Rebecca. “Day Jobs.” The Brooklyn Rail. June 2024 (illustrated)

Wexler, Ellen. “How Artists’ Day Jobs Shape Their Craft,” Smithsonian Magazine, March 10, 2023 (illustrated)

Mallonee, Laura. “In a New Exhibit, Artists Find the Sublime at Whataburger and the Supreme Court.” Texas Monthly, April 25, 2023 (illustrated)

Fisch, Sarah. “Chuck Ramirez Career Retrospective Spans Venues, Decades and Distance,” San Antonio Current, September 12, 2017 (illustrated)

Publications

Exhibition Catalogue, Day Jobs, Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, TX and Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA; curator: Veronica Roberts, 2023-2024, p. 256 (illustrated)

Exhibition Catalogue, Chuck Ramirez: Metaphorical Portraits, Ruiz-Healy Art, San Antonio, 2020, p. 3, 9 (illustrated)
Exhibition Catalogue, Chuck Ramirez: All This and Heaven Too, McNay Art Museum; curators: Rene Paul Barilleaux and Hilary Schroeder, San Antonio, TX, 2017 (illustrated)
Exhibition Catalogue, Chuck Ramirez: Minimally Baroque, Ruiz-Healy Art, and Blue Star Contemporary, San Antonio, TX; curator: Victor Zamudio-Taylor, 2011, p. 34, cover page (illustrated)
Exhibition Brochure, Bean & Cheese, Artpace, San Antonio, TX; curator: Jerome Sans, 2002 (illustrated)

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Chuck Ramirez American, 1962-2010

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Chuck Ramirez American, 1962-2010

Exhibitions

Literature

Publications