Biography

Danny Ramirez

I’m a first generation American born citizen from immigrant Cuban parents. I’m also one of six siblings including a twin brother who is only five minutes older than me. My parents were teenage sweethearts in Cuba, but were both forced to follow their parents into new unexplored territories in America. They left Cuba during the beginning of Fidel Castro’s regime. As countless other immigrants have done in the past, my father first entered the United States through that historical harbor guarded by the Statue of Liberty; he became a New Yorker. My mother her sister, and their windowed mother came to Miami, but then went on to various states, including Chicago. Both of my parents went on to marry other people and begin new lives. My mother had one daughter from her first marriage and my father had a daughter and a son from his. Though their first marriages did not work out, they would later find each other again in Miami. Being single parents who were both still very young, it wasn’t long before family matchmakers took matters into their own hands and introduced the couple. You can say there was a fairy tale in exile.

My parents had always been attracted for one another and grew up with similar religious beliefs, so once reunited; they quickly married and began to enlarge their family. Together they had three other children, all boys. Two of those boys were fraternal twins, of which I was one. We grew up in a bilingual home. My mother because of her travels had learned to speak English fluently and became a legal secretary. My father who first began working in LaGuardia Airport would eventually work at the Miami International Airport where he retired after twenty-five years of service.

As for me I was always a very self-aware child growing up. I had a good understanding of, as well as a deep concern for, the adults in my life and their plight.
At a young age I realized that being a child meant not having many responsibilities, whereas being an adult meant lots of worries. So I became concerned about growing up, because I didn’t think that I would ever manage as an adult, I guess a part of me did not want to be a Cuban at a time when Cubans were still the first exiles in South Florida.  I also noticed a difference between myself and this new breed of Cuban exiles. I considered myself an American not a Cuban, and I looked at these newcomers as mere refuges. Soon I would realize that these exiles were my roots staring me right in the face. As I matured I learned to identify with that perspective while in turn identifying with my Cuban roots. I acquired much of my knowledge from my Grandmother and her stories. She would give me an occasional glimpse of Cuba as she had once experienced it herself.  I remember bringing these stories to life in my own subconscious and feeling as if I was seeing these memories as clear as she did.  In many ways these moments spent with my Grandmother became like a form of exercise, broadening my creative senses.

The conflicts I experienced on who I was and where I came from, as well as the fact that I was one of a brood of siblings, made me search for something that was my own. In my early work I began to resolve many of these issues. I still remember my first experience in the arts at the age of five. My teacher gave us an outline of a butterfly on a poster board in order to color by section. I began cutting out the wings and affixing them back onto the body, taking unusual colors and creating designs on pure emotion. My teacher was confused at first, but she supported my creativity. Other children felt comfortable around me through my art. It was then that I learned that through art I could fit in. Always the quiet type and sort of an outcast, it was easy to voice myself through the arts. This was the first time that I felt passionate about anything at all. I wanted to be an artist from that day and beyond.
 

[Content provided by Danny Ramirez]

CV

Danny Ramirez

Education

1986  Human Horizon Art School, Miami, Fl
1996  New World School Of The Arts/University of Florida, Miami, Fl 

Work Study

1992 - 1993 - Fredric Snitzer Gallery, Coral Gables, Fl

Studio

Located at Dadapoet Studios, 13680 NW 19th Street-Opalocka, Fl 33054

Founder of Dadapoet Industries Inc. and Dadapoet-Artist studios & Storage 2004 

Senior Artist-Diaspora Vibe Gallery, 3938 North Miami Avenue-Design District 2nd Level

Commissioned Projects

2006 -Mural for Miami Beach Marina-Interior Parking Garage "Marina Strip"

Solo Exhibitions

2001 - Diaspora Vibe Gallery, One Man Show Miami, Fl
2002 - Intersections Art Exhibition/Art Basel at The Design District Project Room-Miami, Fl 
2004 -Surviving Memories-Miami Design District Diaspora Vibe Gallery
2005 -Outcast Exhibition, Suicidal Tendencies Installation in the project room Art Basel-The Miami Design District Miami, Fl

Residences

2006 -1st Annual International Artist Biennale Nassau, Bahamas  
2004 -Caribbean Art Exchange, Exit Moving Inside Out at The Marryshow House Presented by Diaspora Vibe Gallery St. George's Grenada, West Indies 
2003 -Trespassing Art Studio Insight Gallery Aruba
2003 -Artist Cultural Exchange & Studio Visits Aruba  
2003 -Caribbean Art Exchange, Parallel Horizons Institute di Cultural,  Presented by Diaspora Vibe Gallery Aruba   
2002 - Caribbean Art Exchange at The Marryshow House Presented by Diaspora Vibe Gallery St. George's Grenada, West Indies   

Group Exhibitions

1991 - Miami Beach Festival of the Arts, Jackien Gleason Theater Miami Beach, Fl 
1992 - Third Annual Collegiate Art Exhibition, New World School of the Arts Main Gallery  Miami, Fl
1992 - New World School of the Arts Exhibition, Main Gallery Miami, Fl
1992 - Dade-Broward-Palm Beach County Art Collegiate Exhibition, Miami-Dade Kendall Campus Gallery Miami, Fl
1992 - South Florida Student Art Exhibition, New World school of the Arts Main Gallery Miami, Fl
1993 - Student and Faculty Art Exhibition, New World School of the Arts Miami, Fl
1994 - Student Art Exhibition,New World School of the Arts Main Gallery Miami, Fl   
1997 - Salon des Refuses, Broward Art Guild Ft. Lauderdale, Fl 
1997 - Portrait Exhibition, Broward Art Guild Ft. Lauderdale, Fl
1997 - Try-County Art Exhibition, Shacknow Museum of Fine Arts Coral Springs, Fl
1998 - Black and White Art Exhibition, Broward Art Guild Ft. Lauderdale, Fl
1999 - The Third Annual Tri-County Art Exhibition Coral Springs, Fl 
2000 - Art 2000 Exhibition, Nathan D. Rosen Museum Gallery Boca Raton, Fl  
2000 - Past Perfect, Perfected Art Exhibition Coral Springs Museum of Art Coral Springs, FL  
2000 - New Forms, New Concepts Art Exhibition, Courtyard Building Boca Raton, Fl
2001 - Salon des Refuses, Broward Art Guild Ft. Lauderdale, Fl
2001 - Diaspora Vibe Gallery, Group Show Miami, Fl
2002 - Diaspora Vibe Gallery, Emerging Caribbean Artists 2002 Miami, Fl 
2001 - Diaspora Vibe Gallery, New Works Group Show 2001 Miami, Fl 
2002 - Diaspora Vibe Gallery, Two Person Show(TwinTowers) Miami, Fl  
2002 - Diaspora Vibe Gallery, Rude Awakening
2002 - City of Miami 106 Year Anniversary Exhibit & Cultural Affair Miami, Fl 
2002 - Bakehouse Art Complex, All Members Art Exhibition Miami, Fl 
2002 - Mayor Manny Diaz's Rotating Art Exhibition, City Hall Miami, Fl
2003 - Strata Exhibition, Art Basel -The Miami Design District Madonna Building, Diaspora Vibe Gallery  Miami, Fl 
2004 - Madonna Building,Diaspora Vibe Gallery Miami, Fl  
2004 - 5/Five Exhibition, Art Basel-The Miami Design District Madonna Building, Diaspora Vibe Gallery Miami, Fl
2005 - Deep Blue Exhibition, Florida Craftsmen Gallery St. Petersburg, Fl
2005 - Deep Blue Exhibition, Florida Craftsmen Gallery Madonna Building, Diaspora Vibe Gallery Traveling Show -Miami, Fl
2005 - Light My Ire Group Exhibition Fusion Arts Museum New York, NY  
2006 - Light My Ire Group Exhibition Fusion Arts Museum-Extended New York, NY  
2006 - Rituals Exhibition Art Basel- The Miami Design District Miami, Fl  
2007 - Popop Studios/Diaspora Vibe Gallery,Group Exhibition Popop Studios-Nassau Bahamas

http://www.danny-ramirez.com 

[Content provided by Danny Ramirez]

Gallery 1

Danny Ramirez

Bedtime Cones:  A safety zone can be the comfort of our home or a place of solitude deep in our subconscious. As children we find safety in the arms of our parents or guardians, but as we become adults these safety zones become more scarce. Naturally we begin to create other safety zones in order to diffuse life's most demanding obstacles. Even though everyone is unique, each of us needs a safety zone simply to sustain our humanity. The safety cone is used to crop-off a segment of the street during construction. The cones purpose, to keep the everyday citizen away from a specific area while maintaining their safety. In this installation the safety cones will serve this same purpose, but instead of cropping-off an area they will be used as a protective enclosure. The pod's space will be utilized as shown in the illustration above. The interior lining walls of the pod will be covered with the safety cones. At the center of the pod a miniature bed will be installed. This Miniature bed with mix-media sculpture will become the focal point of the installation. I believe that the act of sleeping is a universal safety zone. We surrender ourselves to our beds at the end of each day. Our daytime attire is removed like a knights armor after a long day in battle. Our combat daytime clothes are then replaced with more suitable sleep wear further enhancing our sleeping experience. This daily ritual before sleep is preformed by mostly everyone. During sleep our daytime defensive walls are replaced with pillows and blankets. We are relaxed and our minds venture to distinct places far away from our complex life. We regenerate ourselves in this safety zone. This young female sleeping in the bed represents society. She is in the REM phase of her sleep. I've decided to use a young female figure in the installation since a young girl seems more helpless to the outside world. The safety cones surrounding the girl will keep her safe and will act as a membrane protecting her like a fetus in the womb. [Content provided  by Danny Ramirez]

[Work 1]	[Work 2]
[Work 3]	[Work 4]

 

Gallery 2

[Work 5]	[Work 6]
[Work 7]	[Work 8]

 

Gallery 3

[Work 9]	[Work 10]
[Work 11]