Genevieve Ramos: Crip Paint Power

Exhibition run: Saturday, June 10 — Saturday, July 29, 2023

Exhibition opening: Saturday, June 10, 5:30-8:00pm CST

Curb Appeal Gallery is pleased to announce our second exhibition Genevieve Ramos: Crip Paint Power. This exhibition debuts new work created as part of Ramos’s Feminist Crip Paint Power, a multi-year project exploring the love, care, and interdependency in disability communities through the lens of disability justice and feminism. Stemming from relationships with disabled BIPOC femmes and through a series of curated interviews and photo shoots in partnership with the photographer Colectivo Multipolar, Crip Paint Power features four portraits of leaders in Chicago’s rich disability network, including community organizers Candace Coleman and Michelle Garcia, artist and educator Sandie (Chun-Shan) Yi, and the artist activist Reveca Torres. The exhibition includes a documentary film and zine created in collaboration with the Disability Culture Activism Lab at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Following the close of Crip Paint Power, the portraits of Coleman, Garcia, Torres, and Yi will be on permanent display at the Disability Cultural Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Genevieve Ramos (b. 1990, she/her/ella) is an American visual artist and disability advocate. Specializing in acrylic painting, Ramos employs vibrant colors to achieve a pop art aesthetic while exploring the themes of feminism, disability, empowerment, and political awareness. Ramos wields her art as a tool of activism and resistance, challenging audiences to explore their preconceived notions about what and who women with disabilities should be. As an artist, she is inspired by the beauty, positivity, and love of the world, which manifest in works like her portrait series Feminist Crip Paint Power (2022-2023). She is a member of the Pinturas Mexicana’s collective and was a 2021 Artist in Residence with the Disability Culture Activism Lab at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a 2022 fellow with 3Arts/Bodies of Work. Ramos holds degrees in Art and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from Northeastern Illinois University and is working towards a certificate in Painting from the School of the Art Institute. 

Genevieve Ramos: Crip Paint Power is partially funded through the generous support of Bodies of Work, a consortium of disability art and culture in Chicago.

About the gallery: Curb Appeal is an apartment gallery located in the Heart of Chicago, run by Todd Garon and Sandy Guttman. As an organization, we are interested in the intersection of art and accessibility. We draw inspiration from the neighborhood topology of our historic storefront space and its visibility to the community in which we are sited. Our large windows and sidewalk stoop encourage passersby to peer in as well as invite themselves into our live/workspace. Grounded in the idea of “home” with an ethic of accessibility, Curb Appeal reimagines what both an apartment and a gallery can be.

For more information, please contact info@curbappeal.gallery.

Accessibility: Curb Appeal is wheelchair accessible. As part of the exhibition, there is a documentary film that is open captioned. All the paintings include image descriptions, made available through QR code. Additionally, the zine that accompanies the work is available on the Curb Appeal website. Masks are required for entry and will be provided if needed. Please note, Curb Appeal is an apartment gallery and doubles as a home to our gallery dog. 

Image description: Four portraits of Chicago disabled femmes, painted with acrylic on canvas, are hung horizontally to create a single mural. From right to left, the portraits depict Candace Coleman, Reveca Torres, Sandie (Chun-Shan) Yi, and Michelle Garcia, who are seated against a bright bubblegum pink backdrop. Connected across the four paintings are two parallel ribbons of sky blue and four red six-pointed stars, offering Genevieve Ramos’s interpretation of the Chicago flag. 

Press release available here: Genevieve Ramos Press Release

Digital version of zine available here: Disability Justice Is Another Word for Love