Born in Jalisco,
Mexico, Ramirez came to America seeking a better life. Sometime
later he was detained as homeless in California. He
was commited to the Auburn State Hospital. He drew on scraps
of paper which were held together to form larger sheets with potato
starch, using tiny stubbs of pencils. The hospital staff were
ordered to seize the works and burn them at the end of the day.
Ramirez then hid his work and some 300 drawings managed to survive
with care of his doctor Dr. Tarmo Pasto. Chicago artist Jim Nutt
later discovered the work and organized the very first exhibitions.
Some observers say Ramirez's works often depicts symbols of the freedom he so desperately
yearned for - Riders and outlaws on horses, stags and tigers,
trains travelling through tunnels. Ramirez's work also contains
a potent ornamental element which gives the subjects a sense of
theatricality. In 2007, Roberta Smith, Art Critic of the New York TImes, declared that Martin Ramirez " is simply one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He belongs to the group of accessible, irresistible genius draftsmen that includes Paul Klee, Saul Steinberg and Charles Schulz.", as well as "The American Folk Art Museum’s transporting exhibition of the scroll-like drawings of the Mexican artist Martín Ramírez (1895-1963) should render null and void the insider-outsider distinction."
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