He is considered a pioneer of abstract, minimalist, and Constructivist art in Colombia, and in Latin America more broadly.

[3] He and his family moved to Cúcuta in 1929 in seek of work and economic opportunity after being bankrupted in the Great Depression.

[3] He was invited by the University of Cauca in 1947 to spend seven months working in Popayán with sculptor Édgar Negret.

Negret exposed Ramírez Villamizar to European avant-garde artwork, which he had encountered through colleague and Basque artist Jorge Oteiza.

[3] The Ramírez Villamizar Museum of Modern Art (es), established in 1990 in his hometown of Pamplona, was named in his honor.