SOL y SOMBRA

María José Ramírez Ramírez

Sol y Sombra is an after dinner alcoholic drink (or digestif), consisting of equal parts brandy and anise dulce (sweet anise or anisette) served in a brandy snifter. The drink's name comes from the Spanish words for sun and shade and refers to different types of seats one can purchase at bullfights. When purchasing bullfighting tickets you can purchase tickets based on sun and shade. A Sol y Sombra ticket has some shade and some sun throughout the day. As the drink is a combination of the dark brandy (sombra) and the clear anise (sol) we get the name Sol y Sombra.

In the work of Ramírez are two seemingly opposite imagery combined: figurative and non-figurative. She considers herself a realist painter, because the images she paints are taken from particular environments or from existing elements but beneath the surface the concept is equally or even more important. Sol y Sombra is a surprising exhibition by a cocktail of apparent contradictions.

Ramirez works a wide variety of media including installations, film, photography and painting. The last three are closely linked, perceiving photography generally as the basis for her paintings, and the films tends to complement them. You could say that her work is a freeform game that blends a variety of techniques and representational methods, while remaining faithful to classical media: oil on canvas for the paintings…

María José Ramírez Ramírez graduated from the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam. She has exhibited among others in New York. Her work is in several private and public collections including those of the Dutch House of Representatives. Her work can be seen in the Summer Exhibition LIGHT of the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague. Until August 31, 2014.