Chuck Ramirez

Candy Tray: Fouquet, Paris, c. 2003

Digital print

20 x 16 in (50.8 x 40.64 cm)

Edition. Printer's Proof (From the edition of: 2 PPs, 5 APs, 15 editions)

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The "Candy Tray" series was first introduced during Chuck Ramirez’s 2002 Artpace residency exhibition. As Ramirez described it, he became “obsessed” with discarded objects and continued to add to the series for a period of six years, culminating in ten large pigment print photographs. While the other artworks in the series display gleaming, empty candy trays, “Fouquet, Paris” is the only print that contains remnants of food. Colorful, half eaten pieces of chocolate are scattered within the box and the paper packaging crinkled and flung off to the side. His chocolate trays illustrate the recurring theme in his artwork of the premature disposal of items that still have value or life. “Fouquet, Paris” sits in contrast with the rest of the series, perhaps indicating the messy, ephemeral qualities of life that are still meant to be enjoyed.

About the artist

Chuck Ramirez

1962-2010

As an artist and graphic designer, Chuck Ramirez processed and deconstructed the media world in which he lived. Using typography and digital imaging technology, Ramirez isolates and recontextualizes familiar objects and texts to explore the human condition. Always personally relevant, Ramirez explored cultural identity, mortality, and consumerism through his photographs and installations; his work subverted stereotypes of those who cross cultural boundaries. Ramirez resurrects waste—photographing filled garbage bags, dying flowers, and battered, empty piñatas—reflecting on the fleeting nature of human existence while imposing the will to survive.

A 2002 Artpace artist in residence, Ramirez’ work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. In 2012, The Smithsonian American Art Museum purchased Ramirez’ limited edition large-format photograph, "Seven Days: Breakfast Tacos," for the institution’s permanent collection. During the winter of 2017, the McNay Art Museum exhibited the first significant survey of his work in the exhibition "Chuck Ramirez: All This and Heaven Too."

His work is in numerous permanent museum collection: The Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C.; The Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, TX; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX; The Pérez Art Museum (PAMM), Miami, FL; The San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, TX; The European Museum of Photography, Paris, France; The McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, TX; El Museo Del Barrio, New York, NY; The Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, TX; The New México Museum of Art, Santa Fe, NM; Indiana University Art Museum, Bloomington, IN; Ruby City, San Antonio, TX; Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, CA; Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore MD.