The world that Reybert Ramos conjures knows only domination. Lounges, bespoke suits, whiskey, and cigars cater exclusively to the alpha, each one explicating who is predator and who is prey. On the artist’s canvases, these are food chains where man and animal share a single form, where the battle for control is as bestial as it is human. His works depict a world governed by primal instincts, where dominance is not just exercised but celebrated, unapologetically laying bare the structures of power and survival. The present exhibition extends the same line of inquiry that Ramos’s previous shows pursued, melding anthropomorphic characters with various symbols of authority to blur the boundaries between animal and human. By collapsing these distinctions, Ramos challenges viewers to reflect on the brutality lurking beneath the sophisticated veneer of contemporary life. This exploration draws attention to the primal undercurrents that persist within modern hierarchies of power. When taken against today’s realities of violence, systemic oppression, and unbridled ambition, Ramos’s work unravels the mechanisms that sustain societal control. His canvases reveal the raw, unvarnished dynamics of dominance beneath society’s polished façade, confronting the paradox of progress in a world still driven by survival of the fittest.
(Text by Chesca Santiago)