Ricardo Ruiz is a visual artist based in

Corpus Christi, Texas Corpus Christi ( ; ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat and largest city of Nueces County, Texas, Nueces County with portions extending into Aransas County, T ...

Biography

Ricardo Ruiz (also known as Ricardo Ruiz the Elder) was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, where he still resides. Ruiz could draw before he could even talk and by the age of three he could draw on command. His works are inspired by

curanderismo A ''curandero'' (, "healer"; f. , also spelled , , f. ) is a traditional native healer or shaman found primarily in Latin America and also in the United States. A curandero is a specialist in traditional medicine whose practice can either contr ...

, a traditional folk medicine of Mexico. His paintings are similar in style, and he is influenced by,

Hieronymus Bosch Hieronymus Bosch (; ; born Jheronimus van Aken ; – 9 August 1516) was a Dutch people, Dutch painter from Duchy of Brabant, Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work, gene ...

Kerry James Marshall Kerry James Marshall (born October 17, 1955) is an American artist and professor, known for his paintings of Black figures. He previously taught painting at the School of Art and Design at the University of Illinois at Chicago. In 2017, Marshall ...

, and

Gregory Gillespie Gregory Joseph Gillespie (November 29, 1936 – April 26, 2000) was an American Magic realism, magic realist painter. Life and career Gillespie was born in Roselle Park, New Jersey. After graduating from high school, he became a nondegree stu ...

. Ruiz primarily works in oil, watercolors, and acrylic, and his paintings focus on Chicano culture, and his own family heritage. His son, Ricardo V. Ruiz, is an artist and printmaker. Richardo Ruiz the Elder has been working as an artist for over 35 years.

Education

Ruiz obtained his bachelor's degree in fine arts in 1984 from Corpus Christi State University. Twenty-two years later he returned to graduate school to get his master's degree in fine arts from Texas A&M, Corpus Christi in 2014.

Artworks

One of Ruiz' well known pieces is his ''Love Songs for the Palomia'', a painting of a

grackle Grackles is the common name of any of 11 species of passerine birds (10 extant and one extinct) native to North and South America. They belong to various genera in the icterid family. In all the species with this name, adult males have black o ...

wearing a fez hat and in front of a bright green background''.'' He used a grackle as his subject because in Corpus Christi they would always be around him since he was a child. However, he had never seen a dead one so it became an inside joke that grackles have the same longevity as humans which would also give them the same abilities to be civilized as well. The word “Palomia” is slang for “people of the neighborhood” which Ruiz considers an endearing name for the people around him. Many of Ruiz’ inspirations come from a blend of

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

art, Catholicism,

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

, and Mexican American culture. Other artists Ruiz finds inspiring are

Frida Kahlo Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón (; 6 July 1907 – 13 July 1954) was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. Inspired by Culture of Mexico, the country' ...

, Thomas Hart Benton,

Edward Hopper Edward Hopper (July 22, 1882 – May 15, 1967) was an American realism painter and printmaker. He is one of America's most renowned artists and known for his skill in depicting modern American life and landscapes. Born in Nyack, New York, to a ...

, and Donald Wilson. His work is described as examining “the commonality of the life experience.”

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

* 2015 at the Norman Artwalk inside the Dope Chapel. * 2019, ''There Is Something I Want To Tell You. The Narrative Paintings of Ricardo Ruiz,'' at the Martha Fenstermaker Memorial Visual Arts Gallery at Laredo College.

Group exhibitions

* 1985 - Texas A&M University's Weil Gallery * 1986 - Art Museum of Southern Texas * 1999 - Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art

Collections

Ricardo Ruiz's works can be found in the permanent collection of Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art, Texas A&M University Weil Gallery, and the Art Museum of Southern Texas.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruiz, Ricardo Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Artists from Corpus Christi, Texas Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi alumni