Arturo Vega

Mexican-American graphic designer

Arturo Vega

Vega in 2006

Born| (1947-10-13)October 13, 1947[1]

Chihuahua, Mexico

Died| June 8, 2013(2013-06-08) (aged 65)

New York City, New York

Occupation| Graphic designer
Years active| 1975–2013
Employer| The Ramones

Arturo Vega (13 October 1947 – 8 June 2013) was a Mexican-American graphic designer best known for his long association with the punk rock group The Ramones. He designed the group's iconic logo, and was sometimes called the fifth Ramone. Officially dubbed the group's artistic director, he was also charged with designing stage lighting for concerts, supervised sales of shirts and other merchandise and was the band's sometimes spokesman.

In 1973, Vega became friends with Dee Dee Ramone (born Douglas Colvin) whose girlfriend lived in Vega's apartment building.[1] During the band's existence between 1974 and 1996, Vega attended all but a handful of their over 2,200 concerts.[1]

Vega's logo for the Ramones was inspired by the U.S. Presidential Seal, with several alterations including the band member's names arranged in a circle, and the eagle gripping a baseball bat rather than a quiver of arrows (a reference to their song "Beat on the Brat" and Johnny Ramone's love of baseball).[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] He adapted the Presidential Seal to reflect his belief that Ramones were "the ultimate all-American band”.[1]

Vega died from cancer on 8 June 2013 at the age of 65.[12]

## Career

[edit]

Inspired by Andy Warhol,[13] the exploration of geometric abstractions by the De Stijl works of Piet Mondrian, and the playfulness of Roy Lichtenstein[14] in his artistic approach, Vega liked to experiment with shapes, words and bright colors in the pop art style.[15]

In 2008, Arturo moved to Berlin to mount the permanent exhibition that is the Ramones Museum. The Ramones Museum team stated "He was constantly urging us to shake things up and move things around, to see things differently, to experiment and not to keep anything set in stone."[16]

A photograph of the Ramones by Vega was exhibited at MoMa in 2014 as part of the exhibition Designing Modern Women 1890 - 1990. In 2017, a retrospective exhibition was held at Howl Art in New York City, titled "Empire: An Arturo Vega Retrospective".[17]

The non-profit organization Howl! Arts, located in New York City's East Village and founded in 2015 by Jane Friedman, offers regular retrospectives that include Vega's work.[18] The exhibition Icons, Iconoclasts and Outsiders held from September 2021 to March 2022, included several of his paintings [19] as did the 2015 exhibition Arturo Vega American Treasure at Howl! and Empire: An Arturo Vega Retrospective in 2016 at the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery.[citation needed]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e Yardley, William (June 11, 2013). "Arturo Vega, Shepherd for the Ramones, Dies at 65". The New York Times. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
2. ^ "In Memoriam: Arturo Vega (1947-2013)". Punknews.org. June 9, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
3. ^ Coulehan, Erin (June 10, 2013). "Arturo Vega, Ramones Logo Designer, Dead at 65". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
4. ^ McNeil, Legs (June 14, 2013). "Happy, Happy, Happy! - A Memory of Arturo Vega". Vice magazine. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
5. ^ "Arturo Vega, Ramones' Beloved Artistic Director and Confidant, Dead at 65". Spin. June 8, 2013. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
6. ^ "Arturo Vega, the Ramones logo designer, put the seal on their success". The Guardian. June 10, 2013. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
7. ^ Minsker, Evan (June 9, 2013). "R.I.P. Arturo Vega, Ramones' Graphic Designer". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
8. ^ "Obituaries — Arturo Vega". The Daily Telegraph. July 8, 2013. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
9. ^ "Ramones artistic director Arturo Vega dies, aged 65". NME. June 10, 2013. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
10. ^ Perrone, Pierre (July 10, 2013). "Arturo Vega: Designer who became known as 'the fifth Ramone'". The Independent. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
11. ^ Minsker, Ethan (March 17, 2010). "Arturo Vega: Hambleton Collector & Artist Mentor". Vimeo. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
12. ^ de Perez, Al (June 9, 2013). "RIP Arturo Vega: My Memories Of The Ramones Design Legend". Sabotage Times. Archived from the original on January 30, 2019. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
13. ^ Cameron, Dan. "Hiding in Plain Sight" (PDF). Howl! Arts.
14. ^ Cameron, Dan. "Arturo Vega American Treasure". www.howlarts.org.
15. ^ Yardley, William. "William Yardley, « Arturo Vega, Shepherd for the Ramones, Dies at 65". www.nytimes.com. The New York Times. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
16. ^ "Ramones Museum Museum". www.ramonesmuseum.com. Ramones Museum Museum.
17. ^ "Empire: An Arturo Vega Retrospective". www.howlarts.org. Howl Arts. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
18. ^ Clark, Roger. "Howl preserves cultural history of East Village in new headquarters". www.ny1.com. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
19. ^ "Icons, Iconoclasts and Outsiders". www.howlarts.org. Retrieved 15 February 2017.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website
* The Legacy of Arturo Vega, Art Director of the Ramones discussion at Queens Museum, June 19, 2016 (YouTube)

* v
* t
* e

Ramones

* Joey Ramone
* Johnny Ramone
* Dee Dee Ramone
* Tommy Ramone
* Marky Ramone
* Richie Ramone
* Elvis Ramone
* C. J. Ramone

Studio albums|

* Ramones
* Leave Home
* Rocket to Russia
* Road to Ruin
* End of the Century
* Pleasant Dreams
* Subterranean Jungle
* Too Tough to Die
* Animal Boy
* Halfway to Sanity
* Brain Drain
* Mondo Bizarro
* Acid Eaters
* Adios Amigos

Live albums|

* It's Alive
* Loco Live
* Greatest Hits Live
* We're Outta Here!
* You Don't Come Close
* NYC 1978

Compilations|

* Ramones Mania
* All the Stuff (And More!) Vol. 1
* All the Stuff (And More!) Vol. 2
* Hey! Ho! Let's Go: The Anthology
* Ramones Mania 2
* Masters of Rock
* Best of the Chrysalis Years
* The Chrysalis Years
* Loud, Fast Ramones
* The Best of the Ramones
* Weird Tales of the Ramones
* Hey Ho Let's Go: Greatest Hits
* Essential
* Morrissey Curates The Ramones

Songs|

* "Blitzkrieg Bop"
* "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend"
* "Carbona Not Glue"
* "Rockaway Beach"
* "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker"
* "Teenage Lobotomy"
* "I Just Want to Have Something to Do"
* "I Wanna Be Sedated"
* "Rock 'n' Roll High School"
* "Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?"
* "Danny Says"
* "The KKK Took My Baby Away"
* "Durango 95"
* "Somebody Put Something in My Drink"
* "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg"
* "Something to Believe In"
* "Pet Sematary"
* "Poison Heart"

Films|

* Rock 'n' Roll High School
* Lifestyles
* We're Outta Here!
* Around the World
* End of the Century
* Raw
* It's Alive 1974–1996

Tribute albums|

* Ramones covers album series
* Gabba Gabba Hey
* Blitzkrieg Over You!
* Ramones Maniacs
* We're a Happy Family
* The Song Ramones the Same
* Brats on the Beat: Ramones for Kids
* File Under Ramones (by The Huntingtons)
* Osaka Ramones (by Shonen Knife)

Related articles|

* Discography
* List of Ramones concerts
* "R.A.M.O.N.E.S."
* "Rosebud" (Simpsons episode)
* Gabba
* Gabba Gabba Hey
* Ramones Museum
* The Ramainz
* Chinese Rocks
* Schott Perfecto
* Danny Says
* Arturo Vega

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* United States

Artists|

* ULAN
* MusicBrainz
* Museum of Modern Art

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