Gerardo Ramírez (San José, Costa Rica, 1948) is a visual artist whose artistic practice spans more than 50 years. He developed most of his career in Canada, where he emigrated in 1972. There he quickly joined the group of new painters in Toronto and managed to gain a respected place within the emerging group, which as a whole acquired an important prestige in the eighties. He later joined the artists of Klonaridis Inc, the prestigious gallery run by Alkis Klonaridis, known for introducing the new American painting with artists such as Frank Stella, Helen Frankenthaler, Milton Avery, Morris Louis, Kenneth Nolan, among many others.
His work has been exhibited in numerous solo exhibitions, in spaces such as Galería deCERCA, the National Gallery; Galería Nacional del Centro Costarricense de la Ciencia y la Cultura; Galería Alternativa; Galería de Arte Contemporáneo Julían Marchena del Museo de Arte Costarricense; Galería Robertson, in Montreal, Canada; Klonaridis, Inc., Toronto, Canada; Watson de Nagy Gallery, Houston, USA. And collectively both nationally and internationally in Permanencia de la Pintura, Alternativa Gallery, San José, Costa Rica; El Quijote, Museo de Ciencia y Cultura, San José, Costa Rica; Agua, Color y Permanencia, Museos del Banco Central, San José, Costa Rica; Arte para sentir; Museo de Formas, Espacios y Sonidos, San José, Costa Rica; Entre Arte y Naturaleza, Museo de Arte Costarricense, San José, Costa Rica; Museo de la Miniatura “Rafa Fernández” Museo de Arte Costarricense, San José, Costa Rica; 3 Canadá, Galería Alternativa, San José, CR; Moore Gallery, Toronto, Canada; The Klonaridis Group, Moore Gallery, Toronto, Canada; Tribute to Alkis Klonaridis, Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, Canada; V Lachner y Saenz Painting Biennial, CR; Costa Rican Painting, Capital Bank, Miami, Florida, USA. Considering Spaces, Joseph D. Carrier Gallery, Toronto, Canada; Architectural Scale, Klonaridis, Inc, Toronto, Canada; Salones Nacionales, Museo de Arte Costarricense, San José, Costa Rica; Scottsdale Center for the Arts, Arizona, USA; Watson de Nagy Gallery, Houston, USA; Sir George Williams Art Galleries, Concordia University, Canadá. Also, a large number of his works are part of private and institutional collections around the world.
In 1991 he was awarded the “Premio Único de Pintura” of the Salones Nacionales from the Museum of Costarrican Art, specifically the Salón Nacional de Pintura Manuel de la Cruz González, with Rafael Ángel “Felo” García, Ricardo Ulloa Barrenechea and Harold Fonseca as jurors. Eugenia Zavaleta, curator of the Museo de Arte Costarricense at the time, said in the presentation of the award, that this recognition meant a closer approach to the work of Ramirez and his artistic work, since he lived for a long time in Canada. That same year he was awarded the “Award of Excellence” by the Government of Costa Rica.
In 2005 he was commissioned a sculpture, which is currently located in the Los Yoses promenade, for the Art in Public Spaces Program through the Municipality of San José. That same year Ramirez returned to Costa Rica to reside in the country permanently, since then, produces and houses in his studio a large amount of work.
