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Paul Ramírez Jonas papers

Archives of American Art

Object Details

Creator
Ramírez Jonas, Paul, 1965-
Names
Creative Time, Inc.
Hunter College. Department of Art
Occupation
Educators -- New York (State) -- Brooklyn
Multimedia artists -- New York (State) -- Brooklyn
Topic
Latino and Latin American artists
Provenance
The collection was donated in 2015 and 2017 by Paul Ramírez Jonas.
Creator
Ramírez Jonas, Paul, 1965-
See more items in
Paul Ramírez Jonas papers
Summary
The papers of New York multimedia artist and educator Paul Ramírez Jonas, measure 6.3 linear feet and 19.73 GB and date from circa 1989-2014. The collection documents the work of this social practice artist through correspondence, exhibition and project files, and professional files, and provides relatively thorough coverage of Ramírez Jonas's work and development to late mid-career.
Biographical / Historical
Paul Ramírez Jonas (1965-) is a multimedia artist and educator in New York, New York. Ramírez Jonas was born in Pomona, California and raised in Honduras. He earned a BA in Studio Art and an MFA in Painting from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1989. As a social practice artist Ramírez Jonas explores definitions of art and the public and seeks to engage active audience participation in much of his work. He uses pre-existing texts, models, and materials in work ranging from monumental sculpture to smaller and more intimate projects involving drawings, textiles, musical instruments, video and performance art, and other media. Ramírez Jonas has had an ongoing association with Creative Time, a public arts organization in New York City which funded, amongst other projects, his 2010 project Key to the City, in which he replaced locks around the city with new locks that could be opened with keys he distributed. Keys have had an important role in Ramírez Jonas's work; his Taylor Square park project in Cambridge, for example, juxtaposes the locked gates of the public space with 5000 keys he distributed to the public to be duplicated endlessly, as a symbol of "this relationship between public space and the public." Ramírez Jonas is an educator who has taught at institutions including the Rhode Island School of Design and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. He is currently an Associate Professor at Hunter College, City University of New York.
Extent
6.3 Linear feet
19.73 Gigabytes
Date
circa 1989-2014
Archival Repository
Archives of American Art
Identifier
AAA.ramipaul
Type
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Gigabytes
Citation
Paul Ramírez Jonas papers, circa 1989-2014. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Arrangement
Prior to donation, Ramírez Jonas organized the bulk of his archives chronologically and thereafter into three categories which he titled "Shows," "Work," and "Other." This core arrangement has been maintained in the series Exhibition Files (Shows), Project Files (Work) and Professional Files (Other). A few additional files that did not fall into these three categories are arranged at the beginning of the collection as Series 1: Correspondence and Personal Files. Series 1: Correspondence and Personal Files, 1991-circa 2014 (0.25 linear feet; Box 1, 2.20 GB; ER10) Series 2: Exhibition Files, 1990-2009 (3.05 linear feet; Boxes 1-4, OV 7, 14.99 GB; ER01-ER05) Series 3: Project Files, 1990-2014 (2.4 linear feet; Boxes 4-6, OVs 8-9, 2.54 GB; ER06-ER09) Series 4: Professional Files, circa 1989-2014 (0.6 linear feet; Box 6, OV 8)
Processing Information
The collection was processed by Stephanie Ashley in 2020. Born-digital materials were processed by Kirsi Ritosalmi-Kisner in 2020 with funding provided by Smithsonian Collection Care and Preservation Fund. Additional finding aid description of the sound recordings was completed by Kirsi Ritosalmi-Kisner in 2024.
Rights
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Scope and Contents
The papers of New York multimedia artist and educator Paul Ramírez Jonas, measure 6.3 linear feet and 19.73 GB and date from circa 1989-2014. The collection documents the work of this social practice artist through correspondence, exhibition and project files, and professional files, and provides relatively thorough coverage of Ramírez Jonas's work and development to late mid-career. Correspondence and personal files include greeting cards and postcards sent to Ramírez Jonas from individuals and galleries, and includes the artist's file arrangement lists documenting his organization of the records prior to donation to the Archives of American Art. Extensice email correspondence remains unprocessed. Exhibition files provide a comprehensive survey of Ramírez Jonas's participation in group and solo exhibitions over more than two decades. Files include correspondence, notes, sketches, and printed, photographic and digital material for multiple exhibitions, and record Ramírez Jonas's relationships with gallery owners as well as the evolution and execution of many installations. Project files provide a relatively comprehensive record of over two decades of projects, including large scale public art installations and smaller, more intimate projects, that trace evolving themes in Ramírez Jonas's work. Files include correspondence, architect's plans and schematic drawings, artist notes, financial and contractual records, printed and digital material, and photographs. Professional files document other professional activities in which Ramírez Jonas was involved, such as boards and committees, conferences, panels, and seminars. Also found are a few files relating to teaching appointments, including documentation of his Combined Media Class at Hunter College.
Restrictions
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Related link
Record ID
ebl-1594759053754-1594759053764-0
Metadata Usage
CC0
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9c60e8103-f7e3-4bd3-90df-2960e6ada512

In the Collection

Pages

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  • Shine a Light (2013)

  • Personal

  • Baltic Triennial (2009), Vilnius

  • (In)visible Geographies (2008), Centro Leon

  • Flatfile Project at Frederick Taylor Gallery (2007)

  • 50 State Summits Project (2002)

  • Miscellaneous

  • A Quality of Light (1997), Falmouth College of Arts

  • Obama Moon, Text on Paper (2008)

  • Jack Tilton Gallery Exhibition (1993)

  • Putt-Modernism Exhibition (1992), Unrealized

  • Walk Circles (1994), Unrealized

  • Water Wheel (2007), Hudson River Park, Background Reports

  • Timeline for Cabinet Magazine (2000)

  • Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius (2001)

  • Full Serve (2000), Mixed Greens

  • Distance Over Time (1998)

  • Democracy in America (2008), Creative Time, Digital Photographs

  • Bienal de São Paulo (2008)

  • Teaching, Hunter College, Combined Media Class

  • Spent (1990), The New Museum

  • Water Wheel (2007), Hudson River Park, Design Sketches and Plans

  • October Specials (2009)

  • Threshold: Ten American Sculptors (1995), Fundação de Serralves

  • Venice Biennale (2009)

  • Open, Taylor Square Project Exhibition (2005)

  • Thin Air: Examining the Ethereal (1996), YWCA New York City

  • Threshold: Ten American Sculptors (1995), Fundação de Serralves

  • Markets of Resistance (1993), White Columns

  • A Work in Progress (2001), New Museum of Contemporary Art

  • Galleries, Roberts & Tilton

  • Postmasters Exhibition (1995)

  • "Miscellaneous Ideas and Source Material"

  • The Paper Sculputure Show (2003), Sculpture Center

  • Paul Ramírez Jonas (2007), Roger Bjorkhomen Galleri

  • Unidentified Project

  • Heavier Than Air (2004), Ikon Gallery Catalog

  • Eastern Maintain Sports Climbing School

  • Arch, Trophy Room (1991), Prospect Park, Brooklyn

  • Between the Acts (1996), Icebox

  • Postmasters Exhibition (1997)

  • Time to Kill (1998), Pineapple Project Room

  • "Ebay" Exhibition (2004), Pace Digital Gallery

  • Open, Taylor Square Project Exhibition (2005)

  • Teaching, Hunter College, Combined Media Class

  • Not the old, not the new, but the necessary (1998), Beaver College Art Gallery

  • Water Wheel (2007), Hudson River Park, Background Reports

  • New York, Interrupted (2006), PKM Gallery, Bejing

  • "Miscellaneous Ideas and Source Material"

  • Fever (1992), Exit Art/The First World

  • Clay Tablets, Names Iraq, Unrealized?

  • Speed (1998), Photographers' Gallery Magazine

  • Water Wheel (2007), Hudson River Park, Design Sketches and Plans

  • Key to the City (2009-2010)

  • Untitled, Moon Penny to E-Flux (2008)

  • Vera List Anniversary Portfolio (2012)

  • Taylor Square Park (2004), Cambridge

  • Paper Moon (2008), Moon and Text on 616 Sheets

  • Water Wheel (2007), Hudson River Park, Background Reports

  • Conference, Changing Views (1998), Royal College of Art, London

  • Walk Ways (2002), Independent Curators International

  • Hot Water (1993), Sandra Gering Gallery

  • Heavier Than Air (2004), Ikon Gallery

  • Copies (2008), Clay Airplane and Trashbin at Aldrich Museum

  • Board Member, The New Museum

  • Open, Taylor Square Project Exhibition (2005)

  • Disappearing Act (1998), Leslie Tonkonow Artworks and Projects/Bound Unbound

  • "Remember the Maine" (1995)

  • Penny Moon (2008)

  • Man on the Moon (1992), Christopher Grimes Gallery

  • Sleeping and Dreaming (2007), Deutsches Hygiene-Museum, Dresden

  • Key to the City (2009-2010)

  • Projects (1997), Irish Museum of Modern Art

  • Summer Reading (2008), Hosfelt Gallery

  • The Return of the Exquisite Corpse (1992), The Drawing Center

  • Stopped Map Project (2004), Unrealized

  • New Work: Janine Antoni and Paul Ramírez Jonas (2003), Miami Art Museum

  • The Geometry of Hope... (2007), Blanton Museum of Art

  • You and Me, Sometimes (2008), Lehmann Maupin

  • Galleri Roger Bjorkholmen Exhibition (1998)

  • 50 State Summits Project (2002)

  • Pictures, Patents, Monkey and More….on Collecting (2001), Independent Curators International

  • Ensemble (2007), Institute of Contemporary Art, Christian Marclay

  • Speed (1998), Whitechapel Art Gallery

  • Selections from the Sculpture Center (1990)

  • The Geometry of Hope... (2007), Blanton Museum of Art

  • Brick Project (2003), Unrealized

  • Open, Taylor Square Project Exhibition (2005)

  • Water Wheel (2007), Hudson River Park, Background Reports

  • Water Wheel (2007), Hudson River Park

  • Calendar 2000 (1998), Art for Art's Sake and Center for Curatorial Studies Museum

  • 5 Props for a Speakers Corner (2008)

  • "Esperanza Projects" (2004)

  • The Geometry of Hope... (2007), Blanton Museum of Art

  • Speed (1998), Photographers' Gallery Magazine

  • Artists Experiment (2013-2014), Museum of Modern Art

  • Open, Taylor Square Project Exhibition (2005)

  • The End: An Independent Vision of Contemporary Culture, 1998-2000 (2000)

  • Water Wheel (2007), Hudson River Park, Background Reports

  • "Top of the World" (1997), Research

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