From Construction Worker to New York Artist
A peek inside Emilio Ramos’ world with Marilyn.
Emilio and I met on Sunday afternoon at his East Harlem studio which also serves as his home. Painted fabric and some paints on the staircase outside his apartment, already give the vibe of an artist’s studio. Surprisingly, his house is neat and organized, with paintings of Marilyn Monroe on the walls, boxes on the floor and some merchandise nicely set up next to the kitchen. Under the windows there are two big boxes of paint aligned and ready to be used.
Three years ago, Emilio would have never thought about quitting his construction job and dedicating himself to art. Today, art is not only his passion, but his full-time job. It all started when his friend asked him to paint her body for a video with the theme “fallen angel”; he had no background in art but accepted the offer. The paint he used was not appropriate for skin so it peeled off, which unexpectedly gave the real feel of a “fallen angel”. After this experience, he started copying images of Marilyn Monroe taken from Instagram, but he struggled to draw the two eyes and mouth symmetrically. His solution became his signature; he covered her left eye with the hair and the mouth with a bandanna.
Shortly after, he began to upload his pieces on Instagram and was amazed by people’s responses. He did a few showings around his neighborhood in places like “Ricardo’s Steak House” where they commissioned his paintings. “Spending 12 hours in construction and 8 hours painting every day, art became another source of income,” says Emilio.
“The Prince and The Showgirl”
From all the images out there and infinite options, Emilio chose just one: “I had the vision of Marilyn in my head, I just couldn’t deliver it.” “Once I started painting I focused on perfecting”. Street art is often related to social issues, aimed at delivering messages and stories, but Emilio’s objective is different, “I don’t want to force any story, I like the visual stimulation of the painting… I want people to look at it and say: This will look great on the wall”. When it comes to the process of his painting, Emilio explains how “the bandana mostly comes last, but sometimes it comes first and then I build around it”.
“Many people ask me if I admire Andy Warhol because my paintings look like his, but I am more inspired by artists from today, those coming where I come from, I can’t relate to those artists (like Warhol).” What I like about social media is that you can see many artists’ trajectory starting from zero.”
The person Emilio admires the most is, “Brian Kirhagis, a fellow artist and friend. His work-ethic is like no one else’s and he focuses on his own work… I get inspired just by looking at his Instagram.” Emilio describes how scrolling down Kirhagis’ work on Instagram makes him stand up from the couch and start painting. “A lot of people think he just became famous without seeing his story, he struggled and fought his way out” Emilio says about Kirhagis.
“There are so many different things I can do with that face that I haven’t found any other image to start working on,” says Emilio, “but I would like to gradually move to abstract and oil painting… I have other visions of paintings but I have to dedicate time to start with other things”. His work has paid off, his take on Marilyn has become a recognizable logo and is extremely popular among Emilio’s 20k Instagram followers.
“If I’d observed all the rules I’d never have got anywhere.” — Marilyn Monroe
I asked for Emilio’s advice on life based on his journey. His motto is to “focus on the quality of the work.” He is proud of not listening to what others tell him, “I’m happy I didn’t go to school. Being book smart isn’t the only option, self-taught is also good.”
There’s No Business Like Show Business
Using Instagram, Emilio utilized the platform to sell and promote his work. Later, he launched his own website www.ramosoriginals.com. He is in charge of his entire business: creating the work, printing, promoting, distributing, shipping and delivering. “People see the finished product without seeing all the work behind it,” Emilio says on the amount of work he does behind the scenes. Besides the wall paintings, he started a line of hats and pins with different designs of Marilyn in them. His devotion to quality is why each project takes so long to complete. Although he mostly does custom-made orders and sales through Instagram and his website, he is slowly transitioning to galleries. He is currently working with 212 Arts Gallery, which will hold his first solo exhibition on May 6th.
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