letmypeopleshow:Sneak Peek: Martin Ramirez Is First Mexican-American Artist and First “Outside
letmypeopleshow:Sneak Peek: Martin Ramirez Is First Mexican-American Artist and First “Outsider” Artist to Get U.S. Postal StampHere’s a reason to use snail mail: The U.S.Postal Service is issuing Martín Ramírez First-Class Mail stamps.Five stamps are in the set, each with a distinctive image from Ramírez’s paintings: trains, tunnels, a rider onhorseback, and the flora and fauna of his native Jalisco. “Simply one of the greatest artists of the 20th century” is how Roberta Smith identified Ramírez in her New York Times review of the artist’s 2007 show at the American Folk Art Museum. Writing in theNew Yorker, Peter Schjeldahl called him “one of my favorite artists, period.”Their phrasing reflects the origins of his massive, mesmerizing drawings, in the psychiatric hospitals where Ramírez, a Mexican laborer who emigrated to the U.S. in 1925, spent the second half of his life. As the idea of what it means to be an Outsider Artist has evolved—as Schjeldahl put it, “Outside what?”—this week’s dedication ceremony reflects a meeting of worlds in a more inclusive moment. The event this Thursday, at the opening of a Ramírez show at New York’s Ricco Maresca gallery, features Master of Ceremonies (and New York mag art critic) Jerry Saltz, along with representatives from the U.S. Postal Service, the Mexican Consulate, and more. The stamps, priced at 49 cents each, are in the series that’s good Forever. -- source link