The Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art is proud to present More, an exhibition of new artworks by Las Vegas artist Krystal Ramirez. Working with large-scale textile sculpture, puzzles, and historical photography, Ramirez considers the value of protest and proposes that interruptions to our accustomed ways of thinking can keep us anchored in reality. 

Drawing on her family’s Culinary Union background, she populates quilt-like grids with words found in historical protest photographs from UNLV Special Collections and Archives. Her use of Tyvek—a tough material typically used in construction—reinforces the connection between her goals as an artist and a family history of blue-collar labor.

“The conceptual fabric of Ramirez's work resides in her understanding of protest as process: a means of overturning the utopian, ahistorical foundations of artistic abstraction and transforming them into a poetic declaration of anger and a call to action,” says Dr. Emmanuel Ortega, Marilynn Thoma Scholar and Assistant Professor in Art of the Spanish Americas at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She “reminds us that there can be no creative path forward without a rigorous reckoning with history and its enduring impact on contemporary society.”

Her grids refer back to the nested squares that the German American artist Josef Albers (1888-1976) used to test the effectiveness of small changes between different combinations of colors. Ramirez, a Mexican American artist, points out that Albers was inspired by the shapes in the precolonial architecture he saw while visiting Mexico. Her geometric systems are both a cultural inheritance and an art-historical tool. 

By treating words and letters like decorative elements that can be moved around in a colorful network, Ramirez creates what she calls “analog glitches” that invite viewers to pay conscious attention to the act of reading. Her work is a protest against contemporary A.I. technologies that tempt us to believe that the acquisition of knowledge is simple and quick. 

More will be on view in the West Gallery of the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art from October 23, 2026–May 22, 2027. A reception will take place during the UNLV Art Walk event on October 23, 5–9 p.m. The Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art is open from Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. when exhibitions are open. It is closed on state and federal holidays. Entry is free.

About Krystal Ramirez

Krystal Ramirez is a Las Vegas artist who creates communal spaces of reverence that highlight local histories of migration and blue-collar labor. Her work embraces the instability of written language, inviting viewers into a realm of constant reevaluation where words and letters become a physical manifestation of experiences often lost in translation. Her practice spans a variety of media, including photography, painting, installation, sculpture, and fiber arts. Ramirez received her BFA in Studio Art from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and a Master of Fine Arts in Art Practice from Stanford University. Her work has been shown in museums and galleries throughout the United States, including the Nevada Museum of Art (Reno, NV), NMSU Art Museum (Las Cruces, NM), SOMArts (San Francisco, CA), and Gallery 400 (Chicago,IL).

This exhibition was created in collaboration with Dr. Emmanuel Ortega and UNLV Special Collections and Archives. Our Bus to Barrick field trip program is supported by the UNLV Office of Government and Community Engagement and Howard Watts III.

The campus has some metered parking spots available for visitors. Parking in staff, student, and visitor spots is free on Saturday and Sunday and after 1 p.m. on Fridays. 

The building is equipped with automatic doors. Visitors do not need to navigate stairs, ramps, or escalators. RTC ADA Paratransit Stop 7 is located outside the Museum’s north entry doors. Contact the Museum (702-895-3381 or barrick.museum@unlv.edu) if we can help you with other types of accommodation.

K-12 and NSHE educators who want to bring classes to the exhibition should contact Zida Wang, Manager of Museum Community Engagement and Outreach, at zida.wang@unlv.edu 

Our Bus to Barrick field trip program brings over 1,000 K-12 students to the Museum every semester. To support Bus to Barrick or other aspects of the exhibition, please contact Alisha Kerlin at alisha.kerlin@unlv.edu or 702-895-1402.