Patricia Ruiz-Healy founded Ruiz-Healy Art in 2004, and it remains one of the few international art galleries in San Antonio, one that has specialized over the years in representing a wide range of artists from South Texas and south of the border.
Chuck Ramirez, Constance Lowe, Nate Cassie, and Pedro Diego Alvarado-Rivera, to name a few, all have been shown at Ruiz-Healy Art. San Antonio is known more for its artist-run spaces than its galleries. That’s allowed Ruiz-Healy Art to establish itself as unique mix of leading local artists and those whose works and names are familiar on an international level.
“Patricia Ruiz-Healy is raising the bar for what it means to be a gallerist in San Antonio,” said Alana Coates, assistant director at Ruiz-Healy Art. “We are not promoting our roster of artists solely on the regional level here — we are taking them to national and international platforms, publishing scholarly catalogues, and selling their artwork to the most important institutional and corporate collections — no other gallerist in town is operating on this level. Not in San Antonio.”
Operating by appointment only for nearly a decade, Ruiz-Healy Art opened its first public space in October 2013 within a renovated 1920s-era Spanish Art Deco building at 201-A East Olmos Dr. The gallery was expanded in march with the addition of a public gallery space.
To inaugurate the new space, Ruiz-Healy presented “Straight from Berlin: Paintings and Works on Paper by Uwe Kowski and Jörg Herold.” That exhibition – a partnership with one of Berlin’s most prestigious galleries – signaled a new collaborative spirit at Ruiz-Healy Art.
“Collaboration has been the theme for our 2014 exhibition programming,” said Coates. “In March we partnered with Galerie EIGEN+ Art to bring Uwe Kowski and Jörg Herold, acclaimed members of the New Leipzig School, to our San Antonio gallery space. In May, we were pleased to work alongside the Southwest School of Art to present a two-part exhibition of Argentine ceramicist Nicolás Leiva, and currently, we are aligned with the prestigious photography gallery Blanca Berlin Galeria in Madrid, Spain.”
“Straight From Spain: Photography by Isabel Muñoz and Juan Manuel Castro Prieto” is the current exhibition at Ruiz-Healy Art featuring two Spanish photographers.
“On display now for Fotoseptiembre, we are proud to present Isabel Muñoz and Castro Prieto, two well-respected photographers from Madrid to South Texas,” said Coates. “This exhibition was made possible through the Blanca Berlin Galeria partnership, which also enabled us to concurrently exhibit a solo show of photography by Chuck Ramirez in Madrid.”
Muñoz, who often works in platinum developments, captures the sensuous movement of dancers in costumes from around the globe. Prieto’s work, on the other hand, tends to focus more on film and literature, and the artist’s travels in Latin America.
The Ramirez exhibition, titled “Oscuro Corazon (Dark Heart): Photography of Chuck Ramirez,” will run through Nov. 15 at Blanca Berlin Galeria in Madrid. As the exclusive representative of the estate of Chuck Ramirez (1962-2010), Ruiz-Healy Art continues to facilitate further scholarly study that adds to the artist’s historical record.
“‘Straight from Spain‘ is just another of hopefully many more international collaborations to come to Ruiz-Healy Art,” Coates said. “These creative partnerships allow us to bring world-renowned artists to San Antonio, while facilitating exposure of our South Texas talent abroad.”
“Straight from Spain“ will run through Oct. 4 and will close with a reception 1-3 p.m.
On the calendar for Ruiz-Healy “Art is Either, Or, Or Both,” featuring the works of artist Ethel Shipton and Nate Cassie, with an opening reception from 6-8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9. An “artist talk” will follow on Saturday, Oct. 25. at 1 p.m.
*Featured/top image: “Straight from Spain: Photography by Isabel Muñoz and Juan Manuel Castro Prieto” runs through Oct. 4 at Ruiz-Healy Art. Courtesy photo.
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