Chuck Ramirez American, 1962-2010

Born out of Ramirez's extensive travels and ability to find beauty in the mundane, this series transcends traditional still-life photography, offering a compelling commentary on consumer culture and the impermanence of material objects. This openness to new experiences allowed Ramirez to uncover beauty in unexpected places and objects, transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary through his lens. Photographs were taken in Mexico, Berlin, Port Aransas, TX, and New York City. The “Still Lifes” series features images of garbage overflowing from bins, food, and permutations of objects such as cookbooks, tchotchkes, and bags in his friend’s homes were taken by Ramirez as he traveled and walked the streets. As Edward Hayes notes in the exhibition catalogue for All This And Heaven Too, “The mining of everyday objects, including the transformation of found and household items, aligns with an esthetic strategy of his contemporaries known as rasquachismo.”