Martín Ramírez (1895-1963) is considered one of the great American “outsider” artists of the 20th century. As a Mexican immigrant, he was arrested and taken into custody in northern California in 1925. Diagnosed with schizophrenia, he spent the next 35 years in various mental institutions, unable to communicate in English.
But he began drawing, scribbling on scraps of paper that he struggled to hide from hospital staff who would often throw his work away. He came to the attention of Dr Tarmo Pasto, a psychology professor, who ended up studying him (and providing art materials) as part of his research on art therapy and rehabilitation.
Ramírez’s images afford a heady mix of organic forms laced with geometric repetition. A central image, usually a man on horseback, the Virgin Mary or trains, is often surrounded by large vertical spaces and repeated graphite lines. The effect is like a stained-glass window, but with a washed-out palette of waxy browns, oranges, greens and silvery-black graphite. That some physicians now question whether Ramírez was mentally ill adds extra poignancy to this mesmerising show of work by a man who seemingly used his art to celebrate a freedom he never knew. This is his first big retrospective.
American Folk Art Museum, 45 West 53rd St (between Fifth and Sixth Aves). Tel: +1 (212) 265-1040. For more information, see the museum’s website.
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