Moving and thought-provoking art instead of advertisements.
Interview with Marcos Ramirez (artist, Tijuana, Mexico; awarded Art Moves Special Award this
Galeria Rusz: What made you interested in art? After all, you studied law and could have become an affluent lawyer? Marcos Ramirez ERRE: I remember being interested in art from an early age; I had drawings instead of notes in my textbooks. I also liked Law, as an option for a career, but in my country the legal system is corrupted, so I decided not to be part of that, and instead follow my inclination for Art.
GR: What ideas lay behind your art? MR: The Ideas that are important also for a good Lawyer – the pursuit of Justice, equality, freedom, peace, and all the concepts that can make us live in a better world. My art is very much related to the social and the political arena of our time.
GR: Do you think that your art can change reality for the better? MR: I am sure of that. It did change me just by preventing me from betraying my principles, so I believe it can change some of the many people who have the chance to experience my work.
GR: How do you, as an artist, benefit from living on the border? MR: Well, the main benefit is that I live in two different worlds at the same time, getting the best of both and trying to evade the harm that the worst of both worlds can cause me and other people. Still I consider living on the border, and especially one as important as the Mexico/ USA border, a huge advantage.
GR: Why do you present the majority of your works in public space? MR: I try to stay in contact as much as possible with the public that is not a specialized one, a public that not necessarily goes to Museums or Art galleries, because I like my world to communicate with the regular people, the everyday, passing by citizen that can still be amazed by finding art suddenly in the public space. I like at other times, to aim at the gallery or museum attendants, but still I treat that public in the same way. The language I use stays the same, I try not to change it.
GR: This year, you were a juror of art on billboards competition. Could you give some advice, some hints, to artists who will in the future take part in our competition? What should they focus on while creating billboards? MR: I think there are several conditions to consider while creating a billboard piece of Art. The first one is that it has to work like a regular street billboard does, so it has to communicate in a fast way, since for most of the road billboards you only have a few seconds to read the message or get the Idea. The second one is that it has to be able to “sell“ the idea or the concept almost at the same speed, since the spectator needs to decipher the billboard. For that purpose you need first – a good idea, followed by simplicity, clarity, cleanness, and a good use of color and composition, which are invaluable.
