Rodrigo Ramírez Rodríguez's 'Lonely Never Knows Jealousy, Only Despair' at Murmurs Gallery
Theo Meranze reviews Rodrigo Ramírez Rodríguez's solo exhibition 'Lonely Never Knows Jealousy, Only Despair' at Murmurs Gallery in Los Angeles, disclosing his personal and collaborative relationship with the artist. The show, considered a sequel to 'By Abrasion or Contagion' at Bodega OMR in Mexico City, explores intimacy as a dissolving force. Ramírez Rodríguez's paintings, sculptures, and metallic wall-works depict fleshy bodies in transient states between figurative and abstract, inspired by Zenia Yebenez's term 'nervios derramados' (spilled nerves). The exhibition includes a five-painting series 'Cause Nothingness was Somethingness' and a collaborative zine '5/14/26' made with Meranze, Karla Ekaterine Canseco, and Carlin Faucett. Meranze connects the work to Deleuze and Guattari's 'becoming-animal' and Fred Moten's notion of violent love, emphasizing the anti-fascist potential of desire. The show ran in 2026.
Key facts
- Exhibition titled 'Lonely Never Knows Jealousy, Only Despair' at Murmurs Gallery in Los Angeles.
- Artist Rodrigo Ramírez Rodríguez is from Mexico City.
- Theo Meranze is a collaborator and wrote a book 'An All-Devouring Oneness' with Ramírez Rodríguez.
- Previous exhibition 'By Abrasion or Contagion' at Bodega OMR in Mexico City (November 2025).
- Works include oil paintings, resin-coated cocoon sculptures, and metallic wall-works.
- Five-painting series 'Cause Nothingness was Somethingness' resembles film stills.
- Collaborative zine '5/14/26' created with Karla Ekaterine Canseco, Carlin Faucett, and Meranze.
- Influences include Zenia Yebenez, Deleuze and Guattari, Fred Moten, and Peter Tscherkassky's film 'Outer Space'.
Entities
Artists
- Rodrigo Ramírez Rodríguez
- Karla Ekaterine Canseco
- Theo Meranze
- Carlin Faucett
- Beauford Delaney
- Peter Tscherkassky
Institutions
- Murmurs Gallery
- Bodega OMR
- Michigan Quarterly Review
Locations
- Los Angeles
- United States
- Mexico City
- Mexico