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hanged in a wealthy home and just be seen as a regular painting of art. The message of the art is showing the importance and labor of domestic workers. In the article by David Brody titled, Painting Labor: Ramiro Gomez's
Representations of Domestic Work”, “Yvette Waits for Her Check speaks to the boundaries that delimit the experience of the domestic worker (pg.157).” This is an example that domestic women workers are not allowed to receive their payment until after they do their work because of the high expectations of their boss. Jay Lynn Gomez's art shows the injustice of “class, race, gender and immigration (pg.158).”
337:. While the destinations and arrangements for each figure are carefully thought out and executed, Gomez knows that the cutouts’ lives are short-lived as they are either stolen, thrown out or destroyed. According to Gomez, the disposability of the cardboard figures acts as commentary on the perceived replaceability of domestic and maintenance workers. Gomez's husband, photographer David Feldman, photographs images of the cutouts for exhibitions nationwide. In 2013, the
183:), left for the United States in the 1970s. Her mother and father arrived in California separately without legal documentation. They married one year before Jay's birth in 1985, and later became US citizens following the births of their second daughter. Gomez spent her childhood admiring the tireless work of her mother, Maria Elena, a school custodian, and her father Ramiro Sr., a
223:, which documented her daily experiences and observations of the other workers in the home and the neighborhood. As the children napped, Gomez would retreat to her room so that she could paint loose representations of her fellow workers, depicting male workers in their outdoor sphere tending to the lawn and pool and female housekeepers cleaning the interiors.
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325:. In this series, Gomez's main objective was "to slow people down, to have them double-take, to make them take notice and see" the cardboard figures that she placed along the sidewalks, on lawns, and against buildings. Gomez paints loose renderings of people on life-size cardboard cutouts, which she collects from the dumpsters behind a
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to recognize who maintains city and cares for its children. Gomez explains that "it was strange; actual humans involved in their labor had become invisible to most people, but the image of a human, there, in the middle of your day, and not at some museum or gallery, but there in the middle of your path, somehow that registered."
199:. The pair are now married and live in West Hollywood. Feldman plays a critical role in the documentation and preservation process of Gomez's work. Before her cardboard cutouts are either stolen, thrown out, or destroyed, Feldman photographs the artwork in its intended position and location. These images are then hung in
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advertisements in high-end magazines to reinsert an image of the Latino community into the public consciousness. Gomez depicts the figures of housekeepers, nannies, and gardeners completing their daily duties in the
Chicano Rasquache style, as a way to both, acknowledge and document their lives and labor.
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was to attend. One of the figures displayed a sign that read "We are all
American". Her intent was to demonstrate the political dimensions of her art by both representing and humanizing her subjects. According to Katharine Schwab, Gomez uses the power and accessibility of street art to force society
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In Jay Lynn Gomez's series of “Waiting for Checks (2013-present)” paintings of domestic women working, Gomez's intent is to demonstrate the boundaries of the domestic worker's experience. Through her art, Gomez contributes to providing relevance of domestic labor. She mentions how art pieces can be
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paintings and glossy magazine advertisements he takes for inspiration, putting the lives of
California’s near-invisible and individually disposable workers front and center." In addition to their names, most of her figures are presented with dark skin and brown hair to fully represent the archetype
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Due to a combination of financial struggles and the passing of her grandmother, Gomez dropped out of CalArts after one year. In order to make a living, Gomez secured a job as a private nanny for a Los
Angeles family, which she began in September 2009. She held this job for two years and it provided
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Gomez has stated that she sees David
Hockney as a personal hero and an influence for many of her works, as well as helping her to openly embrace her queerness. Hockney is known for creating idealistic depictions of Los Angeles, California. His modernist style rendered the splendor of Los Angeles
195:, identifying at the time as male and understanding that her attraction to other boys was disapproved of by her traditional Mexican family. Following the initial shock, her family came to support her homosexuality. Shortly after graduating from high school, Gomez met a photographer and filmmaker
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While working at the
Whitney, Gomez observed the custodians, security guards, and staff members, documenting images on her phone so that she could later create cardboard cutouts of these subjects. In the week prior to the Biennial, she gifted these subjects with their cardboard representations,
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Gomez painted this to demonstrate her personal family's struggle after her uncle was deported in 2018. In the painting, “a man-shaped hole in a family portrait marks the spot where a graduate’s father should have been”. Gomez leaves the figures in her portrait faceless, but right next to the
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displayed in her employer's home. Upon flipping through the pages, Gomez found the images devoid of the workers who maintained the advertised domestic lifestyle. This realization prompted her to begin her series, Domestic Scenes (2012–present), in which she superimposes domestic workers onto
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of a Latino domestic worker. The series acts as a photo study, documenting the figures that advertisements have erased from the narrative. These images earned Gomez recognition within the art world, resulting in her partnership with the
California-based art dealer Charlie James Gallery.
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residents, homes and pop culture. Gomez sought to revise
Hockney's compositions by including the implied characters who work to maintain the depicted beauty as well as to portray dark-skinned workers, diverting the focus of the piece from luxury to labor. Gomez reimagined Hockney's
175:, Jay Lynn Gomez is the child of two formerly-undocumented Mexican immigrants. Gomez adopted the nickname "Jay" in her childhood to distinguish herself from her father, Ramiro Gomez Sr. Jay's parents, hailing from different parts of the Mexican countryside (west of
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her with the stability she had lacked previously. Not only did it provide a steady income and a reliable living situation, but it also allowed Gomez to work alongside people whose backgrounds resembled hers, reminding her of her family's Latino immigrant roots.
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Fajardo-Hill, Cecilia; Del Toro, Marissa; Vicario, Gilbert; Chavez, Mike; Chavoya, C. Ondine; Salseda, Rose; Valencia, Joseph Daniel; Villaseñor Black, Charlene; Cheech Marin Center for
Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum, eds. (2024).
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artists from the 1960s to the present day. The show was curated by feminist art historian Cecilia Fajardo-Hill, and curators Marissa Del Toro, and Gilbert Vicario. The exhibition accompanying catalog was published by Chicago University Press.
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which she completed in 2014. While Gomez's reproduction does not depict Hockney's large splash in the foreground, it does include two faceless workers in the background who clean windows and rake the pool. Gomez's painting is currently in the
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Gomez gives each of her workers a Latino name such as Maria, Lupita, or Carmen but renders the figures with loose and rough strokes that blur any identifiable facial features, which writer Katharine Schwab states "reframes the
163:. Her artwork addresses social justice issues, focusing specifically on topics of immigration, race, and labor. Much of her work highlights the efforts of unseen laborers who maintain landscapes and produce luxury products.
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truck driver. While her parents worked, Gomez's grandmother took care of her and her sisters, assuming a vital role in her upbringing and providing her with unwavering support as she came to terms with her sexuality.
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exhibitions, as well as others nationwide. In late March 2021, Gomez posted on Instagram that she is a trans woman. In the post, she expressed gratitude to friends and family for their support.
356:, which she says is intended to force passersby to recognize who maintains the city and cares for its children. In 2012, Gomez planted four cardboard Latino workers on the hedge of actor
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Throughout her childhood, Gomez found school assignments and classes tedious. Nevertheless, she excelled in the art studio, eventually resulting in a partial scholarship to the
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933:"From nanny to international art star: Ramiro Gomez on how her paintings reveal the labor that makes California cool possible"
714:"From nanny to international art star: Ramiro Gomez on how his paintings reveal the labor that makes California cool possible"
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Gomez crosses mediums to cardboard to represent Latino gardeners, custodians, and workers in her series entitled
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During these two years when Gomez cared for the family's children, she began her first artistic series,
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1115:. New York, NY : Munich, Germany: American Federation of Arts ; Hirmer Publishers.
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Gomez displays most of her cutouts throughout the lawns, street corners, and playgrounds of
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graduate is an empty space while the rest of the family is standing next to each other
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Her story and her work have been discussed in a variety of news outlets, including:
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1031:"He Went from Nanny to Artist. His Muse Is the Men and Women Who Make L.A. Work"
897:"Hacking Hockney: the Mexican American painter bringing Latino culture into art"
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412:, partnered with LACMA for this exhibition. The exhibit served as part of the
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686:"Gardens Don't Tend Themselves: Portraits Of The People Behind LA's Luxury"
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605:"Painting Labor: Jay Lynn Gomez's Representations of Domestic Work"
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989:"Painting Labor: Ramiro Gomez's Representations of Domestic Work"
408:(LACMA). Both the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center and the
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Also in 2017, Gomez's work was part of the group exhibition,
452:, MCA San Diego, MFA Houston, the Torrance Art Museum, the
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announced the inclusion of Gomez's works from the series,
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at UCLA offered Gomez her first solo exhibition, entitled
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While working as a nanny, Gomez would look at issues of
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658:"Documenting Los Angeles's Near-Invisible Workers"
191:Throughout her childhood, Gomez grappled with her
440:Gomez's work has been exhibited at: LACMA, the
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392:in New York to participate in his exhibition,
284:My Cousins and My Aunts without my TĂo Carlos
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1145:"Xican-a.o.x. Body • Pérez Art Museum Miami"
1084:"Xican-a.o.x. Body • Pérez Art Museum Miami"
1059:"In West Hollywood | City of West Hollywood"
311:Metropolitan Correctional Center, San Diego
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1211:LGBTQ Hispanic and Latino American people
843:"The People Behind Your Images of Luxury"
397:giving them recognition for their labor.
360:’s home prior to a fundraiser event that
313:'s (MCA San Diego) permanent collection.
64:Learn how and when to remove this message
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376:(2015), in their permanent collection.
797:"Ramiro Gomez's Domestic Disturbances"
795:Weschler, Lawrence (August 14, 2015).
394:Figure Ground: Beyond the White Field.
90:Jay Lynn Gomez (formerly Ramiro Gomez)
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446:Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery
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1226:21st-century American women painters
931:Miranda, Carolina A. (May 4, 2016).
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339:UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
1029:Barajas, Julia (February 4, 2020).
740:McQuaid, Cate (February 16, 2017).
1236:21st-century American LGBTQ people
684:Stamberg, Susan (April 11, 2016).
427:, Florida, showcasing artworks by
419:In 2024, her work was included in
402:Home---So Different, So Appealing,
36:tone or style may not reflect the
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895:Zara, Janelle (August 22, 2017).
712:Maranda, Carolina (May 4, 2016).
603:Brody, David (Fall–Winter 2017).
454:Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art
108:California Institute for the Arts
406:Los Angeles County Museum of Art
213:California Institute of the Arts
46:guide to writing better articles
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542:2013 100 Green Leaders in Art,
536:2014 2013 25 Artists to Watch,
1231:21st-century American painters
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468:, Florida, and many others.
1206:LGBTQ people from California
1196:American transgender artists
442:Museum of Latin American Art
410:Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
155:; born 1986) is an American
742:"At BU, the art of protest"
492:The New York Times Magazine
93:1986 (age 37–38)
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1191:American transgender women
462:Boston Museum of Fine Arts
304:(1967), with her version,
207:Education and early career
173:San Bernardino, California
161:West Hollywood, California
97:San Bernardino, California
1216:Transgender women artists
1186:Painters from Los Angeles
993:Women's Studies Quarterly
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458:Cornell Fine Arts Museum
1201:American LGBTQ painters
1149:PĂ©rez Art Museum Miami
1088:PĂ©rez Art Museum Miami
964:login.libris.mtsac.edu
466:PĂ©rez Art Museum Miami
425:PĂ©rez Art Museum Miami
331:Santa Monica Boulevard
987:Brody, David (2017).
617:10.1353/wsq.2017.0052
579:CHARLIE JAMES GALLERY
388:invited Gomez to the
201:Charlie James Gallery
138:Charlie James Gallery
1221:Transgender painters
414:J. Paul Getty Museum
248:Architectural Digest
960:"Untitled Document"
849:. December 19, 2013
581:. November 15, 2013
507:The Huffington Post
486:The Washington Post
538:Artvoices Magazine
421:Xican-a.o.x. Body,
343:Luxury Interrupted
275:Waiting for Checks
1122:978-3-7774-4168-9
1112:Xican-a.o.x. body
1035:Los Angeles Times
938:Los Angeles Times
503:Los Angeles Times
464:, Massachusetts,
450:Denver Art Museum
329:at the corner of
317:Cardboard cutouts
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1176:1986 births
531:L.A. Weekly
436:Exhibitions
232:Early works
181:Guadalajara
177:Mexico City
54:August 2020
1170:Categories
1131:1373831827
550:References
306:No Splash,
257:Elle DĂ©cor
167:Early life
151:(formerly
1068:April 14,
1005:0732-1562
944:April 14,
916:April 14,
911:0261-3077
853:April 14,
630:April 14,
585:April 14,
509:, and on
368:In 2017,
159:based in
134:Patron(s)
105:Education
1013:26421129
969:April 9,
719:LA Times
625:89923955
525:Source:
374:Cut-Outs
327:Best Buy
323:Cut-Outs
1040:June 4,
429:Chicano
404:at the
157:painter
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808:May 8,
753:May 8,
725:May 8,
697:May 8,
669:May 8,
623:
533:People
521:Awards
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1009:JSTOR
621:S2CID
529:2014
370:LACMA
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1156:2024
1127:OCLC
1117:ISBN
1095:2024
1070:2019
1042:2020
1001:ISSN
971:2021
946:2019
918:2019
907:ISSN
855:2019
810:2017
755:2017
727:2017
699:2017
671:2017
632:2019
587:2019
513:and
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691:NPR
613:doi
515:CNN
511:NPR
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