Borrando La Raya/Erasing the Line

This is a print I have created for the Consejo Grafico’s latest portfolio entitled “Borrando la Raya/Erasing the Line”. The portfolio will consist of images dealing with immigration. My contribution is a 9 x 13” color linoleum block print entitled “Fallecio el Señor Urbano Ramirez” (Mr. Urbano Ramirez died).

The idea for the image came about after I heard Mr. Baldemar Velasquez, President of FLOC (Farm Labor Organizing Committee) speak at an award ceremony honoring my father, Maximino Rodriguez, with the Cesar Chavez Tri-Community Award.

Mr. Velasquez told the shocking but now all to common story of Urbano Ramirez Miranda, who died in a field in North Carolina and was not found until 10 days later. Undocumented = cheap & expendable labor.

Within his talk Mr. Velasquez, an ordained chaplain, spoke of his search through the bible for passages that deal with the treatment of the alien/immigrant among other people. He found three passages that spoke to this subject - Exodus 22;21, Numbers 15;15, and the one of which I chose to use as a footer to the image. The passage is from Leviticus 19:34 “The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native born.”

The portfolio featuring various artists from talleres(printshops) in the Consejo Grafico should be available for sale and exhibition early next year.

Materia Prima

My exhibit "Materia Prima" opens at the Crossroads Gallery in downtown South Bend, Indiana.
Reception is Friday December 4th from 5-9 p.m.

Crossroads Gallery
217 South Michigan Street
South Bend, IN 46601

The exhibition runs from November 30, 2009 - January 29, 2010.

Update: The show has been extended to run until February 19, 2010.

What's the deal?

My friends in The Deal With 44 have posted a taste of their debut cd "Fantasy of Phantoms" which features a reconstructed "Arbol de Vida" image on the cover. "Arbol..." is from the Earth Dragon suite of prints taken from the coffin created for my Dia de los Muertos installation.

blld

My painting "Materia Prima" graces the cover of the latest offering by musicians Markus Reuter and 05Ric (Ric Byer). You can hear some sneak previews at www.myspace.com/blldproject . These images are the working examples and not the final cd cover design.

More winter exhibitions

I have a couple of exhibitions happening this winter in South Bend, Indiana, USA. Follow the links for place, date and maps.


Oscura: Prints, Drawings and Paintings by Ramiro Rodriguez @ the South Bend Civic Theater Community Gallery. October - December 2009.



Materia Prima: Recent Paintings and Prints by Ramiro Rodriguez @ the Crossroads Gallery in downtown South Bend. November 30, 2009 - January 29, 2010

Dia de los Muertos @ Metropolitan Community College

This is the end...

El Huesudo is nearly complete. I rubbed him down with paste wax last night and put all the dowels into place to hold him together. The skull is the last element needing finishing. Still some details to carve and maybe a bit of guilding on the skull cap.

I'm set to drive out to Omaha this weekend. The weather forecast is looking crappy - rain and possibly snow. I hate driving in wet.

Making lists and checking them off. Pooling supplies and backing up digital files for my presentations: one on my work and ofrenda installation and another on exhibit design/art handling. Looks like I'll be doing another interview for a local TV station too.

I may be able to display the full "Earth Dragon Suite" of prints pulled from the coffin. Sixteen feet of continuous print on the wall. I may be doing some painting on the wall to further emphasize the altar.

I'm excited about setting everything up. Adam, from the gallery, tells me the wall should be painted and ready for the altar to be set up when I come in on Monday. The exhibit reception is Thursday the 15th at The Metropolitan Community College
Elkhorn Valley Campus (829 North 204th Street). The exhibit runs 10/15 - 11/15/09.

Skin walker

I'm finishing up writing and delivering an application for a grant. Fingers crossed.
Working like mad on carving out the wooden skeleton for my Dia de los Muertos installation in Omah, Nebraska. Delivery is the 12th. Yikes!
Work continues on the cd art for the Deal with 44. Deadline is quickly approaching.
Took down "Forma" at Goshen College. Sold a few prints. :)
Picked up the prints from the New Galleries exhibit. Sold one print :) :)
Went to hear Cheech Marin talk about Chicano art and culture.
Was asked to show some prints in the exhibit space at the local civic theater during their run of the Elephant Man. Yes!
Scheduled a solo show for November at the Crossroads Gallery in downtown South Bend, IN. (details to follow...)

Dem Bones

I’m hoping making these skeletons doesn’t kill me. Days have been spent on the computer reworking the “Arbol de Vida” image for the 44 cd cover. Evenings have been spent in my garage – cutting, rasping, and sanding boards into bone shapes.

The boys kept trying to coax me out onto the lawn for some playtime this weekend. Took a break to visit with friends at a cookout and catch a movie with the boyos. I don’t know whether it was all the sawdust up my nose, allergies or a combination of everything that gave me a near migraine-sized headache last night. Or maybe there is just too much to do.

Tomorrow night I give a talk to the print class at Goshen College.

Tonight I select and wrap up some prints for a print sale at the University of Illinois @ Chicago’s Student Center East on Friday and at the National Museum of Mexican Art on Saturday. Friday and Saturday I also have meetings with the Consejo Grafico.

The Road to the Dead (take 2)

I'm reworking some of the elements of the Dia de los Muertos installation I showed at the Snite Museum back in 2007. I will be showing the ofrenda installation in Omaha, Nebraska next month. More details to come.

Forma reception

Follow this link for some photos of the "Forma" installation and reception @ Goshen College, Goshen, Indiana.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I painted the newly carved skeleton limbs for the coffin base last night. I'm still working on a new "huesudo" to go inside the box.

I have works showing in three different galleries that are having openings/receptions this weekend. I have a few prints in a group show at the New Galleries on Lincolnway West in South Bend, Indiana. I have the small color prints on view in Buchanan, MI @ Thomas Jolly Home and Garden for the "Non-Pareil" this Saturday (9/5). And don't forget my reception at Goshen College for "Forma".



Here is the press release for "Off the Press":

First Friday Opening Reception

September 4 from 5pm to 9pm
Exhibit continues through September 26

Gallery 807

"Off the Press"
featuring recent works by regional printmakers

Etchings, Lithographs, Silkscreen, Intaglio, Linoleum & Woodblock Cuts,
Aquatints, Monoprints, and Solar Prints

Alan Larkin, Diane Tesler, Lea Goldman, Ramiro Rodriguez,
Julie Tourtilotte, William Tourtillotte,
Jackie Welsh, Bonita Bent Nelson, James Deeb, Linda Rivera,
Philip Monteith, Kathee Kiesselbach,
Ken General, Nick Donovan, Bradley Davenport

Gallery 805

Northern Indiana Pastel Society Members
Donna J. Chambers, Robert Williams, Sandra Goodrich

Northern Indiana Artists Members
William Healy, Daniel Slattery, Joseph Schultz, Thomas Tooley

St. Joe Valley Watercolor Society Member
Ardyce Kreider

Gallery Artists
Barbara De Leu, Erin Warner, Lea Goldman,
Norma Helm, Ann Jagla, Mona Witt, Tim Grieb,
Joe Ruthrauff, Joanne Kiester, Maryart

New Galleries on Lincoln Way West is a proud participant in
Downtown South Bend's First Fridays Event.

Prepping

Lot’s of prepping and less art making. But it’s got to be done.

Delivered prints to a print show in South Bend @ The New Galleries on Lincoln Way West. Delivering prints to Buchanan, MI for an art walk next weekend. Preparing prints for the Art Fair @ The University of Illinois and the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago on September 25 and 26 as part of IUPLR’s Siglo XXI Conference.

I’ve been asked to try my hand at some cd art by my friends in the band The Deal With 44. Working on reworking an existing work to meet the bands needs.

Got a great idea on how to display the Earth Dragon Coffin in Nebraska. I’m busy creating modified papier-maché skeletons and gathering the necessary materials for the installation. This weekend I carved arms and legs out of 2x4” pine. I explained the concept to the Lightboy and he gave a little cringe. I asked him if he thought it was a good idea and he wisely answered “You have to do what you feel is right.”

It was a weekend of visits as well. My eldest brother stopped by and was instantly recruited by the boys for a game of baseball and wrestling. One of my youngest sisters and her family came by to visit and see my exhibit at Goshen College as well.

Just hanging...

Just hanging ...and not in a non-stressful way. I've been hanging art at work, hanging art at friend's homes, and getting ready to hang my work in Goshen, Indiana.

Realizing just how handy the ol' mini-van was now that I have to make several trips in the Honda to deliver the work. That or break down and rent a van for a day.

I feel good about the show though most of the work has been shown before. I hope someone actually shows up to see it.

Here's a link for the show, gallery hours and map.

The kindness of...amigos

My wife and I lent our boys to my parents over the last weekend-plus and spent some time driving to see friends, art, attend Tool concerts and experience Lollapalooza in Grant Park.



Thursday the first leg of the It’s Not The Heat It’s The Humidity Tour took us to Cincinnati, Ohio where we caught up with our friends Jason Franz, Brigid O’Kane, and their lovely daughter Alexandra. We got to see the great work they are doing running Manifest Gallery in Cincinnati, Ohio.



I was happy to see the art work I helped jury for Manifest’s 3rd Annual Master Pieces exhibit. We all spent a good evening dining and catching up with our painter friend Chad E. who always keeps us laughing with his smart ass remarks. We also visited the drawing studio that Manifest sponsors. The space is a great set up with sky lights, new drawing easels and horses. Quite an accomplishment my buddies have created in the community.




Met up with my brother and family Friday night to see the Tool show at the PNC Pavillion. I got a chance to catch up with Maynard a bit before the show and heard about the latest on the wine making front. I was psyched when MJK informed me that we would have some passes waiting for us in Chicago for Friday’s Lolla show. I was also pleased talk with Adam and to meet Steve Niles. The two had scored some art and sculpture on the road in Canada and NYC. I’ve always loved the 70’s Gargoyles movie.







I was able to snap some good soundcheck and show photos with my old 2.1 mega-pixel camera. Aftershow Adam saw the state of my camera and made me a gift of his Sony Cyber-shot (what a guy!) I don’t know what I’m going to do with those 8 extra pixels now?



Saturday morning Laurie and I said our goodbyes to J,B & A and headed to Chicago to catch Lollapalooza where Tool was headlining. We had a pleasant surprise when we arrived at will-call and realized MJK had arranged for us to have passes to both Saturday and Sunday’s shows (Thank you!).

I met up with my nephew Adam and we managed to watch the show from the soundboard platform (thanks MaryJo). Tool’s show was excellent. The band was on and Maynard was very animated and talkative. The lasers that had shot over the crowd on Friday night were contained to the stage roof on Saturday. I assume this is to avoid shooting the beams into the city skyline and mirrored buildings to the west and north of the park. The sound and screen visuals were still great nonetheless and there’s nothing like 55,000 Tool fans singing along with Vicarious! I wasn’t able to shoot any photos because the camera wasn’t charged but it was fine anyway as I was able to concentrate on the show and the vibe. We hung out backstage after the show and talked to some people we hadn’t seen in a while then made the crazy trek back home for the night.

Sunday we headed back to into town to catch some more ‘palooza. Cage the Elephant, The Vampire Weekend, The Raveonettes, Lou Reed and Jane’s Addiction were the stand outs for me. Low point had to have been the frightened 6 year old standing with the trashed out dad lying in the grass in the middle of the crowd. Made sure someone was looking out for him. Tried to give him my ear plugs but someone had already gotten him some. Sometimes I don’t get people.

Decided to drive through and head to my parent’s to wake up with our boys. Watched a spectacular lightning storm staying just ahead of us as we headed north into Michigan. Spent a gorgeous morning/afternoon playing in the yard with the boys and their cousins. The sharp little eyes found some tree frogs, toads and various insects while they raced around and swung from the trees. Life’s good.

Trabajo y Tarea

In my recent work I have been incorporating imagery and scenes inspired by family and family life. Memories of my family’s past, as well as, recent experiences as a husband and father inform the paintings and prints that I create. I see the image portrayed in the oil painting submitted for the National Center for Farmworker Health’s annual poster as an extension of the same theme.

Both of my parents arrived as teenagers in the States during the mid-forties. They met and married at a farm in Texas and worked diligently in the fields to provide for their growing family. My parents saw education as a means for their children to elevate themselves from the difficult work in the fields. As we grew my father consistently stressed the importance of education to each of his children. Although he himself had only achieved a third grade education in Mexico, my father’s wish was that, at the very least, each of us would complete high school. My parent’s wish was fulfilled with each of their eleven children completing high school and some even continuing onto college degrees.

This image of a father and son in a field is an homage to my loving parents’ wish. The tired father, who has been working all day in the field, has been met by his young son, freshly off the school bus. I imagine the words the boy conveys about what he has learned in school that day as his father carries him on his shoulders high above the green fields in which the father toils day after day.

This painting “Trabajo y Tarea” Work and Task (or Homework) is dedicated to my parents,and especially, to my loving father who, at 80 years old, continues to give unselfishly and is my guiding example, inspiration and hero.

The two main figures in this painting were modeled by my cousin, Sergio Almanza, and my nephew, Diego Cesar Rodriguez-Reyna.

This work will soon be available for purchase on the National Center for Farmworker Health’s website as a giclee print and poster. Funds received go to the Migrant Health Scholarship Program.

Two Step

The next few days are going to be something.
Thursday I jury a show dealing with art and social justice.
Saturday is my Dad's 80th birthday party.
Sunday is Mother's Day.
Monday I fly out to San Antonio, TX for the unveiling of the image I painted for the National Center for Farmworker Health.
Tuesday I speak about the image and sign posters for people.
Wednesday I fly back home.

If you are in San Antonio stop by and say hello.

Spring Art Walk

My studio is on this year's South Bend Spring Art Walk trail.
Stop by Saturday May 2nd @ 107 Monroe Street and check out some art.
11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Milwaukee Public TV piece

Here's a heads up for those of you in the greater Milwaukee area.

Milwaukee Public Television will air the segment they taped of my work/show at Latino Arts, Inc. next Tuesday (March 31) at 6:30 pm on channel 10. It will also repeat April 1st on channel 36 at 12:30am and again April 5th at 5:30pm on channel 36.

I haven't seen it yet but it may be good for a laugh.

Working it

I spent the weekend working in the studio on the NCFH poster image.

I'm working in oils on an 18 x 24" canvas.

The image has already deviated from the proposed sketch. Sometimes bodies just can't physically contort themselves into what a sketch body will do.

Hopping Towards Spring...

Things have been hopping around here.

At the end of January my family was able to visit the gallery in Milwaukee. About 20 of us had a private showing on a Saturday when the gallery is normally closed. It was good to be able to have my family see the installation.

February 9th I took down, packed up and drove the works back to Indiana. All the boxes and wrapped paintings are now clogging up my studio space.

I was invited to show with a group at Goshen College. The exhibit was entitled “The Dream”. I have also been invited to show at a small gallery in New Carlisle, Indiana – RJ Clark Studio/Gallery. That show runs through March 29th.

I’ve started some new black and white wood block prints. These images relate to some of the new paintings and others are companions to the same themes of family and parenthood.

I have been selected and commissioned to create an image to be used by the National Center for Farmworker Health. The painting will be reproduced as a giclee and offset posters which will be sold to raise money for scholarships.

What's Up, Doc?

A few things that are happening:

I've been introducing my boys to the comical stylings of Looney Toons cartoons (hey, it can't be Fellini films all the time!)

I’m coordinating a group visit to Milwaukee for my family members to see my exhibit.

“The Dream” group show that my wife and I are part of opened last Sunday in Goshen, Indiana and runs through February 18th. I was also asked to exhibit, solo, next fall in the same space.

I’ll be part of a group show at a local gallery in New Carlisle, Indiana next month.

I’m working on sketches and blocks for new paintings and prints.

"The Dream" exhibit

The Goshen College Multicultural Affairs Office,

Good Library, and the Center for Intercultural Teaching and Learning

bring to you:


"The Dream"

Art Exhibit at the Good Library Gallery

January 25-Febuary 18

Opening reception: Sunday, Jan. 25 from 2-4 p.m.

 




Featured Artists:

Richard Allen, painter

Margaret Bryant, fiber

Joe Casey, painter (self taught)

Javaughn Renee, painter

Laurie Rousseau, light boxes, photography

Ramiro Rodriguez, print maker

Kay Westhues, photographer

Jake Webster, sculptor



Opening reception: Sunday, Jan. 25 from 2-4 p.m.

This a FREE event!

Ring, Rang, Rung...

Happy 2009 to everyone.

It was good to see friends and family over the past few weeks. I look forward to meeting up with those of you I didn't get a chance to meet up with in all the hustle and bustle.

My wife and I were invited by our friend, Jake Webster, to participate in a small group show. The exhibit is entitled "The Dream" and will take place at Goshen College in Goshen, Indiana January 24 - February 18, 2009. The opening reception is January 24th from 2-4 p.m.

I'm exhibiting a couple of new prints and my wife will exhibit some of her botanical light box assemblages.

February 6th is also the last day to view my exhibit, "Herencia" at Latino Arts Inc. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

If you are a curator or know of an exhibit space that is looking for a print and painting exhibit to show please contact me and maybe we can schedule something for this coming year.