SPIN (orange)

Paul Henry Ramirez, SPIN (orange), 2009, screenprint on linen canvas with rotating wall-mount armature, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2011.11.3A-B, © 2009, Paul Henry Ramirez
Paul Henry Ramirez, SPIN (orange), 2009, screenprint on linen canvas with rotating wall-mount armature, 4444 in. (111.9111.9 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2011.11.3A-B, © 2009, Paul Henry Ramirez

Artwork Details

Title
SPIN (orange)
Date
2009
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
4444 in. (111.9111.9 cm)
Copyright
© 2009, Paul Henry Ramirez
Credit Line
Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Mediums Description
screenprint on linen canvas with rotating wall-mount armature
Classifications
Subjects
  • Abstract
Object Number
2011.11.3A-B

Artwork Description

Ramirez’s painting activates biomorphic forms within the tight confines of a square canvas. The dark rounded shapes that push against the colorful orange edges suggest mutating cells, breasts, buttocks and other sensual zones. The implied movement is further intensified when this painting – which is mounted on a turntable – is allowed to spin. The effect is to inject a kind of playful sexual nuance into an otherwise abstract mode of representation.

Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art, 2013

Description in Spanish

La pintura de Ramirez activa formas biomórficas en los confines estrechos de este lienzo cuadrado. Las formas oscuras y redondeadas que chocan contra los coloridos bordes anaranjados sugieren células mutantes, pechos, nalgas y otras zonas sensuales. El movimiento implícito se intensifica aún más cuando el cuadro —que está montado en una base rotatoria— se hace girar. El efecto es la proyección de un matiz sexual lúdico en un modo de representación que de otra manera sería puramente abstracto.

Nuestra América: la presencia latina en el arte estadounidense, 2013

Works by this artist (2 items)

Shiang-shin Yeh, Bracelet ALS 16L #2 CL, 1996, anodized aluminum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Zack Peabody, 2000.62.17
Bracelet ALS 16L #2 CL
Date1996
anodized aluminum
Not on view
Shiang-shin Yeh, Brooch PLAT 5C #2 CL, 1997, anodized aluminum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Zack Peabody, 2000.62.16A-C
Brooch PLAT 5C #2 CL
Date1997
anodized aluminum
Not on view

Related Books

OurAmerica_500.jpg
Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art
Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art explores how Latino artists shaped the artistic movements of their day and recalibrated key themes in American art and culture. This beautifully illustrated volume presents the rich and varied contributions of Latino artists in the United States since the mid-twentieth century, when the concept of a collective Latino identity began to emerge. Our America includes works by artists who participated in all the various artistic styles and movements, including abstract expressionism; activist, conceptual, and performance art; and classic American genres such as landscape, portraiture, and scenes of everyday life. 

Exhibitions

Media - 2011.12 - SAAM-2011.12_1 - 77591
Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art
October 25, 2013March 2, 2014
Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art presents the rich and varied contributions of Latino artists in the United States since the mid-twentieth century, when the concept of a collective Latino identity began to emerge.

More Artworks from the Collection

Unidentified, 48-State Quilt, 20th century, cotton, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr., 1998.84.61
48-State Quilt
Artist
Unidentified
Date20th century
cotton
Not on view
Virginia R. Harris, Candy Box, 1994, machine pieced and quilted cotton and metallic thread, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist in honor of Carolyn L. Mazloomi, Founder of the Women of Color Quilters' Network, 2002.16, © 1994, Virginia R. Harris
Candy Box
Date1994
machine pieced and quilted cotton and metallic thread
Not on view
Evelyn Derr or MBK, Sampler Block Quilt, 1905, cotton, cotton thread, and wool, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr., 1989.30.4
Sampler Block Quilt
Artist
Date1905
cotton, cotton thread, and wool
Not on view
Joan Schulze, The Crossing, 1990, painted, pieced, appliqued and machine-quilted cotton with stitched calligraphy, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Penny Nii and Edward A. Feigenbaum, 1997.1
The Crossing
Date1990
painted, pieced, appliqued and machine-quilted cotton with stitched calligraphy
Not on view