Domestic Scenes: The Art of Ramiro Gomez

“What a fortuitous meeting of artists this book is: Gomez’s parents are working-class Mexican immi­grants, and their lives, along with Gomez’s own years working as a nanny, inform his powerful assertions, both in his paintings and on the streets of Los Angeles, of the importance of the ignored: the workers who make everything in Lotus Land work. Weschler, who has the journalist’s eye, the art-history chops, and the writer’s feel for narrative required to make all of this come alive, is inspired to produce some of his finest work. The result is aesthetic and intellectual delight punctuated by clarifying jabs of outrage.”—William Finnegan, author of Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life
“I can’t remember the last time—if ever—that I read about an artist and had the overwhelming urge to give them a hug. Not to mention the writer.”—Liza Lou, artist
“Ramiro Gomez’s body of work is absolutely essential in documenting our era, and Lawrence Weschler, wide-eyed and astute as ever, brings us closer to the artist, illuminating the context—the art world and the real world—upon which Gomez so brilliantly comments.”—Dave Eggers, author and founder of Mcsweeney’s
“Ramiro Gomez and Lawrence Weschler have crea­ted a gorgeous book that illuminates the networks of hygiene, immigration, class and race lying just outside the picture plane: proof that great artists can change the way we see the world, and great writers can change the way we see art.”—Fred Tomaselli, artist
“Once again, Lawrence Weschler, the ever-probing reporter and champion of creative process, has set his sight on a rich and unique artistic enterprise: the work of LA artist Ramiro Gomez. This should be required reading for anyone interested in the place where the highest values of aesthetics and social engagement meet most potently.”—Bill T. Jones, choreographer & founding artistic director New York Live Arts