USPS Will Unveil Martin Ramirez Art on Forever Stamps At Ricco – Maresca Gallery

March 26 @ 6pm Reception to follow, Open to the Public

March 09, 2015 



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Martin Ramirez stamp
For High Resolution Photos of stamp images contact congetta.chirichello@usps.gov

What:

“One of the masters of 20th century art, Martin Ramirez created artworks of remarkable visual clarity and expressive power.”  Frank Maresca, co-owner, Ricco - Maresca Art Gallery

The USPS will unveil five forever stamps each exhibiting works by Ramirez.  The ceremony takes place at the acclaimed NYC art gallery during the opening exhibition of Ramirez Forever which runs March 26 through May 2.

Many of the artist’s finest works will be on exhibit.  At the ceremony the USPS will offer the new Ramirez stamps, framed stamps of the artist’s works and philatelic and collectors’ items. The art opening and stamp ceremony are free to the public.

Who:

Jerry Saltz, Senior Art Critic, New York Magazine
Frank Maresca, Gallery Owner, Ricco – Maresca Art Gallery
International Consulates
Joseph Corbett, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President, USPS

When:

Thursday, March 26, 2015
6:00pm (gallery doors open at 5:15pm)

Media:

Media, reporters and photo/ video staff are invited to cover the ceremony, exhibit and partake in the reception. 

PRE-EVENT MEDIA OPPORTUNITY
Media may interview the Gallery as well as the USPS before the exhibit opening date and release information and related stories prior to the event.  Sneak previews of the stamps for pre event releases are also available. Arrangements can be made by contacting Connie Chirichello at 631-524-9735.

Where:

Ricco – Maresca Art Gallery
529 West 20th Street, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10011
(Located in the 529 Arts Building between 10th and 11th Ave)

Background:

Ramìrez’s Legacy
The world of Martìn Ramìrez is a strange and magical place, filled with trains, cowboys and Madonna's. 

On March 26, the USPS will unveil for the first time, five commemorative stamps that will immortalize the works of Ramìrez (1895–1963) by becoming part of the USPS Forever series.  Ramirez, while virtually unknown in his lifetime, is recognized today as one of the great artists of the 20th century. Although confined to psychiatric hospitals for more than 30 years, Ramìrez transcended his own situation to create a remark-ably visualized world; free from the constraints of borders and, even, time itself.  Through the use of repeating lines and idiosyncratic motifs, Ramirez’s and his work is important to 20th-century American art.

The back of the sheet of 20 self -adhesive stamps includes verso text about each of the five works of Ramìrez’s more than 450 drawings and collages. The Martín Ramírez stamps are being issued as Forever® stamps. Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail® one-ounce rate. Art director Antonio Alcalá designed the stamp pane. 

The first row of stamps highlights a floral detail from “Untitled (Horse and Rider with Trees)” from 1954. The second row of stamps showcases the central image of “Untitled (Man Riding Donkey)” from circa 1960–1963. The third row of stamps shows a detail from “Untitled (Trains on Inclined Tracks)” from circa 1960–1963. The fourth row of stamps showcases the central image of “Untitled (Deer),” which dates from circa 1960–1963. And the fifth row of stamps features a detail from “Untitled (Tunnel with Cars and Buses)” from 1954. The sheet’s verso includes brief text about

Born near Guadalajara, Ramìrez left Mexico for the U.S. in 1925. Like other migrant workers during this period, he worked in mines and on the railroad but was hit hard by the Great Depression. Emotionally upset and in poor physical condition, he was detained by police in 1931 and, unable or unwilling to communicate, was soon committed to a psychiatric hospital. He remained institutionalized for the rest of his life.

After several attempts to escape from the psychiatric hospital, Ramìrez began to draw obsessively. Over the next 32 years, he created a series of large-scale drawings—from two feet to more than 20 feet long—that blend the emotional and physical landscapes of his life in Mexico with the modern popular culture of the U.S.  He worked primarily with found materials, like discarded paper, matchsticks, and tongue depressors, as well as homemade glue and paint. Some of his drawings were exhibited anonymously during his lifetime, but it wasn’t until a decade after his death that his work began to receive widespread attention. An acclaimed retrospective held at the American Folk Art Museum in New York City in 2007 established Ramírez as one of the great artists of the 20th century.

Ricco/Maresca Gallery (New York) represents the estate of Martín Ramírez (1895-1963).  Ricco - Maresca Art Gallery

For more than 25 years, Ricco – Maresca has presented exhibitions and produced publications that have helped illuminate the world of Folk and Vernacular Art. The gallery has also discovered the work of many now renowned outsider, self-taught and contemporary artists. In an interview with Artspace Magazine Frank Maresca discusses outsider art.

Since the beginning, Ricco/Maresca has brought to market a various array of what we consider to be the highest quality of culturally significant work available.

 

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