On Thursday, October 29, Ruby City will present Chuck Ramirez’s vibrant Christmas Trees in Studio. Commissioned by Linda Pace in 2005, these exuberant sculptures transform holiday ornaments, boas, beads, artificial flowers, and other everyday materials into joyful works that blur the line between decoration and fine art.
A largely self-taught conceptual artist born and raised in San Antonio, Ramirez was known for finding beauty, humor, and emotional resonance in ordinary objects. Writer, curator, and longtime friend Anjali Gupta describes his gift for “monumentalizing the disposable,” using familiar materials to prompt new ways of seeing. For Gupta, the trees are distinguished by the sentimentality and longing they evoke, reflecting Ramirez’s deep interest in memory, celebration, and the meaning carried by everyday things.
