Las Vegas artist Krystal Ramirez fills the West Gallery of the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art at UNLV with color, words and woven geometry in More, a joyful new exhibition that opens Friday, October 23, 2026, and runs through May 22, 2027. Admission is free.
Working with large-scale textile sculpture, puzzles and historical photography, Ramirez builds quilt-like grids filled with words she found in historic photographs held by UNLV Special Collections and Archives. The letters become decorative elements that dance across each piece in what she calls “analog glitches,” inviting visitors to slow down, look closely and enjoy the simple pleasure of reading. Her tough Tyvek material, usually seen on construction sites, is a loving nod to her family’s Culinary Union roots and to the blue-collar work that built Las Vegas.
The bright nested squares in her work also start a friendly conversation across generations of art: they echo the color studies of Josef Albers, who was himself inspired by the precolonial architecture he admired in Mexico. For Ramirez, a Mexican American artist and UNLV graduate, those geometric systems are both a cultural inheritance and a playful art-historical tool.
The museum celebrates the opening with a reception during the UNLV Art Walk on October 23 from 5 to 9 p.m. The Barrick Museum, at 4505 S. Maryland Pkwy., is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and entry is always free, making More an easy and inspiring art stop for families, students and visitors alike.
Photo: UNLV Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art
