Bony Ramirez: Musa Coccinea, 2022-2024

Bony Ramirez debuts Musa Coccinea, his first public art project—a large-scale mural on the second floor of Palm Court in the Miami Design District. Named after the Scarlet Banana (Musa coccinea), an ornamental plant known for its vibrant red flowers, the mural uses its taxonomic title, a product of colonial classification, to critique the concept of "discovery." The artwork’s title also nods to its central figure, the “muse” (musa in Spanish), a dark-skinned woman draped in a lush Victorian gown adorned with red flowers. With her striking clam-shaped ears, flowing curls, and elongated, graceful limbs, she exudes a mythic presence. Drawing on Renaissance and Baroque portraiture, Ramirez transforms traditional forms into a celebration of Caribbean identity and resilience, recontextualizing colonial art to honor and empower Caribbean culture and its legacy.