Jeffrey Cheung and Humberto Ramirez Exhibition

Jack Hanley

[Image: Humberto Ramirez "Lo Verde" (2021) Oil and acrylic on canvas 24 x 30 in.]

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Jack Hanley Gallery presents a two-person exhibition with Jeffrey Cheung and Humberto Ramirez. Both artists are based in the Bay Area and this exhibition of new paintings will be their first show in New York.

Humberto Ramirez is a self-taught artist whose paintings draw the viewer into richly colored landscapes inhabited by few solitary individuals. Figures and nature, foreground and background fuse into a maze of dense, short brushstrokes that lend the paintings a vibrant and lively surface. The lush, layered colors create atmospheric scenes in which the figure, peacefully resting, blends in with landscapes of forests, plants and branches. The circular shapes and brushwork often suggest movement in which leaves are wafting through the dreamlike sceneries. Influenced by the natural surroundings of Humberto Ramirez’s everyday life, his paintings celebrate nature and color and become an atmospheric safehold.

Jeffrey Cheung’s paintings of entwined naked figures address queer love and human connections. In bold colors and playful outlines, the figures are portrayed in various shapes and body types. Entangled, holding or touching each other, their bodies and various body parts unite among clearly discernible happy faces. Cheung’s paintings celebrate diversity and create positive images that include queer, trans people and people of color. This message is not only conveyed through paintings but further expanded onto skateboard decks and Unity, a platform encompassing print, publishing, music and skateboarding that carves out an inclusive space for the QTBIPOC community.

Jeffrey Cheung (born 1989 in Castro Valley, CA) lives and works in Oakland, CA. He’s had solo exhibitions at New Image Art (L.A., CA), Hashimoto Contemporary (San Francisco, CA), BimBam Gallery (Paris, FR) and Pt. 2 (Oakland, CA). He’s been included in group exhibitions including Jeffrey Deitch (L.A., CA) and V1 (Copenhagen, DK). His work and platform Unity that he runs with his partner Gabriel Ramirez have been featured in The New York Times among other publications.

Humberto Ramirez (b. 1987 in Redwood City, CA) lives and works in Moss Beach, CA. He is a self-taught artist and has been featured in a group show at Delaplane (San Francisco, CA).