New Abstract, Minimalist Paintings by Troy Ramos Opens at Record Box
Artist Troy Ramos unveiled the new, solo art exhibition Where We Are Now on September 17, 2020 at The Record Box gallery in downtown Battle Creek, featuring small and large-scale minimalist paintings with vivid colors and expressive abstract designs. There were several works on large canvasses and many works on paper, with most works consisting of acrylic paints and pencil.
"Over the summer I had an explosion of works which stemmed from this idea that I need to create large, expansive backgrounds which had only the most simple gestures floating over the top. In other words, I realized I needed to embrace minimalism as fully as possible,” said Ramos. "The other important element for the works in this show was creating sets of works, sometimes two, sometimes six or even nine. It felt really important to create a group of works where I could explore one idea as subtly as possible with only the slightest variations.”
Ramos said that the biggest challenge for this show was being able to adjust the project in light of the ongoing pandemic. “At first I wasn't sure what to do because the most important thing is always safety. And when you're in this weird situation that we're all in, you have to almost start from the beginning and completely revamp everything we've known about artistic gatherings,” said Ramos. “But then I realized that not only must the show go on but it can definitely go on keeping safety as a priority and also simply taking a different direction. And I think it turned out better than I could've imagined and, in some ways, even better than the turnout for a regular opening.”
The show was presented on opening night as a ‘virtual opening’. Ramos went live across all social media throughout the evening meticulously going over each work and talking about his process and showing all of the work to anyone who wanted to watch safely from their devices. The sheer number of live recordings he did ended up being several hours worth of footage and reaching audiences far beyond just a local community.
"I went live on seven different social media accounts across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. It took me about four hours to get through all of them,” Ramos said. “It was super fun and I went through every work from start to finish for every recording. The interesting thing is that not only did I have local support but I also had people watching from around the world, something that I didn't expect. Every one of the videos has already had lots of views and it continues to grow because those recordings stay up there forever. So I'm still getting views and I'm still getting interest and emails and things like that. It's been really quite fascinating to watch happen.”
During a normal art exhibition opening, Ramos says that the whole evening would be spent talking with people and making sure everyone was accommodated and simply enjoying the atmosphere. "I did really miss having those in person interactions of course. I really love talking with people and hearing what they have to say about my work and hearing their thoughts and just catching up with them or getting to know new people, etc. In the past I would never have had time to do a live stream video online. But what I found is that, because of this pandemic which led to the idea of having a virtual opening, I've connected with newer audiences online. So, for example, the first 24 hours after uploading all of those recordings across social media, my website traffic increased by nearly 200%. That's insane. I was getting lots of hits from Battle Creek and Kalamazoo, of course. But also hits from Tokyo or Brazil or Paris.”
This exhibition was funded in part by the MCACA (Michigan Council for Arts & Cultural Affairs) and the Art Center of Battle Creek. "It means so much to have the support of the MCACA and the Art Center. Their support means everything. It wouldn’t have been possible to do this show without their support and I want everyone to know how important they are for artists in the community and the community at large,” Ramos added.
Ramos said that he's already had a lot of inquiries about his works and then if anyone is interested they should contact him immediately. "I don't sell prints. I only sell original works. So when everything is gone, it's gone forever. And I've had a lot of people asking about various works, which has been great, of course.”
You can visit ThisIsWhereYouAre.com for more info and to purchase his original art work.