During the last 15 years of his life, Martín Ramírez--often classified as a "schizophrenic artist"--created nearly 300 drawings at the DeWitt State Hospital in northern California. Brooke Davis Anderson, the curator of an exhibit of Ramirez's works at the American Folk Art Museum, explains the importance of his unique drawings.
When I lived in the city
I taught at the school of
visual arts. Mostly
freshmen. When I saw work with this sensibility I would take the student aside and quietly ask how things were going. Were they having
a hard time, etc. I wouldn't mention
the work but tell them
it was just a feeling I had. Usually they were having a difficult time. The problem I have with the work is that
there is no love in it.
I don't mean the smarmy kind but the kind you can't see. Van Gogh's
work has it.
This work fails because
of that and it is full of fear without
resolution.
Scott Davis
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