Ivester Contemporary is pleased to present Redacted, a two-person exhibition of new work by Emilio Villalba and Carlos Ramirez, co-curated by Matt Diehl. The exhibition opens May 23, and brings together two distinct yet deeply connected artistic responses to the emotional and political realities of the present moment.
Redacted considers how contemporary life is shaped by constant exposure to social and political instability through media saturation. While both artists engage with current events, they do so through distinct visual languages.
Ramirez confronts these conditions directly. His works incorporate politically charged imagery and text, including references to immigration enforcement, protest language, and censorship. Motifs such as black redaction bars obscure the eyes of his figures, evoking both surveillance and erasure. Drawing from a visual vocabulary rooted in Chicano cultural histories, revolutionary posters, sign painting, and graffiti, Ramirez creates layered compositions that are grounded in lived experience.
In contrast, Villalba turns inward. His paintings explore the psychological weight of existing within this climate, focusing on intimate portraits that capture moments of quiet tension and emotion. Figures appear alone or absorbed in everyday activities, rendered in thick, expressive paint. These works suggest a form of internal redaction, where individuals suppress or compartmentalize their responses in order to continue moving through daily life. Villalba’s compositions balance vulnerability with composure, reflecting the dissonance between private emotion and public normalcy.
Together, the works in Redacted trace a spectrum between external protest and internal processing. The exhibition asks what it means to witness, absorb, and respond to a world in crisis, and how both visibility and concealment operate as strategies for survival.
' descanso '
Animals have always been a reoccurring theme for me in a majority of my work and I've always appreciated the idea of certain shared similarities between humans and animals and the other worldly blending of them symbolically and spiritually it has always helped me make better sense of things and especially this world .... the bat definitely being one of them, the mexican free tailed bat to be exact,........ migrating 1800 miles from central mexico to the u.s. , Texas having a majority and one of the largest colonies at Bracken cave in San Antonio and the other in Austin under the ann w Richards congress avenue bridge ,initially being frowned upon and misunderstood by the stigmas and its dark lore , but quickly being embraced in a positive light, and realizing the immense environmental benefits they have , they always reminded me of my family having also migrated and a majority of them being from texas and all of the other countless journeys along with being constantly misunderstood ...... above are several artifacts I found near destroyed ' descansos ' ( a place of rest) altar or shrine, that I had saved for many years , placed by other migrants in passing, but usually where someone's journey ended physically and spiritually ......
What is more fitting than a bat that takes to the sky to honor those journeys ✨️
#art ##artcollector #abolishice #migrants
Preview of works by Carlos Ramirez, showing with Emilio Villalba in “Redacted”- opening May 23rd at Ivester Contemporary. Extremely excited to have these two art world super heroes showing in Austin! #carlosramirez #emiliovillalba #ivestercontemporary #artcollector #contemporaryart
We’re excited to finally share a first look at something we’ve been working on 👀
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Opening May 23rd at Ivester Contemporary, ‘Redacted’ a two-person exhibition featuring new work by Carlos Ramirez and Emilio Villalba and co-curated by Matt Diehl.
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More info to come but save the date.
Inquiries can be directed to [email protected]
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#carlosramirez #emiliovillalba #IvesterContemporary #Redacted
' immigrant redacted '
" Gas prices "
..... among one of the many parroted phrases being the catalyst and justification for tyrannical cruelty and the erosion and disregard of due process and of constitution .... sometimes majority does not define what is righteousness it only illustrates the lack of it .
Manufactured consent is killing us
Redacted immigrants on Vintage metal gas price panels ,riddled with bullet holes.
#art #artcollector #abolishice
