about

David Ramirez Cuen (1995) is a multidisciplinary artist from Culiacán. He studied Genomic Biotechnology and Visual Arts at the Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa. Working primarily through figurative painting, his practice explores the tensions between consciousness, biological inheritance, culture, and the environments that shape human behavior and perception.

Through the use of objects, animals, landscapes, and people from his immediate surroundings, David constructs his studies and compositions, grounding his subjects in issues and dynamics that have become almost naturalized within his local context, everyday experiences, and academic background in both the arts and genomic sciences. Almost inevitably, he establishes connections between these elements, always seeking to develop specific narratives or themes through compositions deliberately conceived to possess aesthetic value.

His paintings inquire into the degree to which human decisions and desires emerge from individual agency or from systems of conditioning that precede conscious thought.

Rather than proposing deterministic conclusions, his work seeks to reveal possible correlations between factors that often appear disconnected, exploring the fragile space between predisposition and responsibility. Recurring themes within his practice include perception as a filter, the Freudian unconscious, language as a biological process, historical memory, and the relationship between natural systems and human experience.

Painting becomes both a method of inquiry and a vital necessity: a space where science, culture, and subjective experience converge through image-making.

JOSE DAVID RAMÍREZ CUÉN

1995 — Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico
Painter

EDUCATION

2017–2020
Studies toward a Bachelor’s Degree in Visual Arts
Faculty of Arts, Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa

2013–2017
Bachelor’s Degree in Genomic Science
Faculty of Chemical Biological Sciences, Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa

TECHNICAL TRAINING

2014–2020
Painting workshop training under Sinaloan visual artist Miguel Ángel Sainz González, serving as both workshop assistant and instructor.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2025–2026
THE MEAM HALL — Traveling group exhibition presented at the Museu Europeu d’Art Modern and the exhibition hall of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze.

2025
Presentation of results for PECDA* 2024 — Series of mixed media drawings addressing violence against journalism, presented at the Galería de Arte Antonio López Sáenz.

2023
State Exhibition of PECDA* Beneficiaries 2022 — Collective exhibition, Modern Art Room, ISIC, Culiacán, Sinaloa.

2020
Collective exhibition of the Bienal de Artes Visuales Antonio López Sáenz, Mazatlán, Sinaloa.

2019
Visual Morphology — Collective exhibition at the PEIS Art Gallery, Tecnológico de Monterrey.

2016
Participation in the Third Bienal de Artes Plásticas El Guayabo.

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS

2024
Selected beneficiary of PECDA* in the Young Creators category, Drawing specialty.

2022
Selected beneficiary of PECDA* in the Young Creators category, Painting specialty.

2020
First Prize, Peace in Culiacán public art competition. Cement-cast sculpture permanently installed at Parque Las Riberas.

COLLECTIONS

Works held in private collections in Mexico, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

*PECDA Program for the Promotion of Artistic Creation and Development, a federal and state-funded cultural grant initiative in Mexico.