In this text, Colombian artist Saturnino Ramírez (1946–2002) voices his personal opinions on the occasion of his first exhibition at Galería El Callejón in Bogotá, a show that featured works depicting women prostitutes. This gallery had held shows by well known Colombian printmakers and painters in the seventies and eighties. Ramírez’s show is of particular interest as one of the first solo exhibitions of work by this artist that demonstrates his interest in the urban underworld. Ramírez continued to pursue figuration throughout his career, making use of a language that critics called “realism,” which had a good many adherents in large Colombian cities, such as Bogotá, Cali, and Medellín, in the seventies and eighties.
Prostitutes, billiard halls, cafes, and bars are the urban themes that Ramírez depicted in drawings, paintings, and prints. Indeed, he earned widespread recognition on the Colombian art scene for that work, although he was occasionally criticized for being overly repetitive. Ramírez studied at the Art School of the Universidad Nacional of Colombia from 1964 to 1970. His professors included major figures like Colombian artists Augusto Rendón (b. 1933) and Alfonso Quijano Acero (b. 1927), as well as Italian artist Umberto Giangrandi (b. 1942), all of whom made significant contributions to printmaking in Colombia.
A resident of Medellín, Ramírez moved to Paris in 1974, where he lived for almost two decades. While there, he kept painting billiard and card players, taking part in solo and group shows in cities throughout Europe and Colombia. He showed at Aberbach Fine Art Gallery in New York on several occasions. Ramírez received two fellowships that enabled him to travel to Paris: one granted by the Instituto Colombiano de Cultura (Colcultura) at the third Bienal de Arte de Coltejer (Medellín, 1972) specifically geared to funding studies in art abroad, and another granted in 1973 by the Instituto Colombiano para Estudios en el Exterior (ICETEX).
