Chuck Ramirez American, 1962-2010

Chuck Ramirez often produced images of everyday objects, photographing his subjects out of context, isolated against a stark white background, thereby enticing the viewer to reexamine them. For Ramirez, photographing rubbish wasn’t just about finding beauty in the mundane; it was also about exploring the fragility and temporality of life. Mortality emerged as a key theme in Ramirez’s work, and many of the quotidian subjects were expressions of his reorientated view of life that grew out living with both HIV and a dire heart condition. This exhibition explores the refuse that so often was the focal point of Ramirez’s photographs. By dignifying discarded objects, Ramirez illuminated subconscious concerns with ephemerality, mortality and his concern with being prematurely discarded.