The Photographic Art of Ramiro Gomez and David Feldman

The Critical Eye
by Phil Tarley

The City of West Hollywood kicked off “WEHO ARTES” with an opening reception for the works of Ramiro Gomez and David Feldman, presented in association with the Charlie James Gallery. “WEHO ARTES” is supported by the City of West Hollywood’s WeHo Arts program and is a part of Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA, a far-reaching and ambitious exploration of Latin American and Latino art in dialogue with Los Angeles. Pacific Standard Time is an initiative of the Getty Museum and is sponsored in part by Bank of America.

Valet, El Tovar Place, West Hollywood, 2012 David Feldman Photograph Feldman took this photograph of another of Gomez’s artworks at the City of West Hollywood sponsored pop-up art village called Install: WeHo, in September, 2012.

Nannies, El Tovar Place, West Hollywood, 2012 David Feldman Photograph This photograph is the only documentation left of this site-specific work by Gomez. He left this artwork on site and its current whereabouts are unknown.

Nanny and Child, West Hollywood Park, 2013 David Feldman Photograph Gomez worked as a nanny for several years, an experience which had a strong influence on his work. He often brought the children under his care to West Hollywood Park. As with many of Gomez’s site-specific works, he left this artwork on site either to be taken by a passerby, or thrown away by workers in the park.

Movers, El Tovar Place, West Hollywood, 2012 David Feldman Photograph Feldman took this photograph of one of Gomez’s artworks at a City of West Hollywood sponsored pop-up art village called Install: WeHo, in which artists created installations in the back of U-Haul trucks and staged them over a weekend in September, 2012.

Gardeners, Doheny Dr., West Hollywood, 2012 David Feldman Photograph This photograph is the only documentation left of this site-specific work by Gomez. He left this artwork on site and its current whereabouts are unknown. Often, the homeowner would instruct people much like those depicted in artworks like these to dispose of the art left behind on their property.

Gardeners, Doheny Dr., West Hollywood, 2012 David Feldman and Ramiro Gomez This photograph is the only documentation left of this site-specific work by Gomez. He left this artwork on site and its current whereabouts are unknown. Often, the homeowner would instruct people much like those depicted in artworks like these to dispose of the art left behind on their property.

Gomez’s work is informed by the workers who tend gardens and care for children but are often invisible to the outer world. After briefly attending the California Institute for the Arts, Gomez himself left to work as a live-in nanny with a West Hollywood family, an experience that did much to inform his subsequent artistic practice. Feldman has chronicled the work of Gomez through photography and film. Their combined efforts form a powerful statement on the impact of Latin America on Los Angeles art and culture.

This exhibition includes Gomez’s stunning flat art paintings and features the cut-out painted sculpture work that Gomez is noted for and Feldman’s photographic documentation of it, shot in situ. Ramiro Gomez and David Feldman are artists who live in West Hollywood, and whose artistic partnership stems naturally from their relationship as a couple.

These evocative mixed media photographs swirl issues of gay and Latino social and economic justice against a mesmerizing, personal and political point of view.

Gomez’s work is in the Whitney Biennial, 2017 and is also collected by LACMA. To read the fascinating photo captions, blow up each image and scroll across it. For more information on WeHo Artes: www.weho.org/wehoartes

August 23, 2017 – March 15, 2018.
West Hollywood Library

Image Captions:
Gardeners, Doheny Dr., West Hollywood, 2012