Ric Garcia

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Ric Garcia
Born1968
Miami, Florida
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Miami
Known forPrintmaking & painting
Websitehttp://ricgarciastudio.com

Ric Garcia (born 1968 Miami, Florida)[1] is an American fine arts painter, digital printmaker,[2] and curator[3] of Cuban ancestry[4] currently working and residing in the Greater Washington, DC area.[5]

Education[edit]

Garcia studied and received a BFA in Graphic Design and Illustration from the University of Miami in Florida.[6]

Life[edit]

Garcia's parents were Cuban political refugees[7][8] who immigrated to the United States in 1966.[4] He was born in Miami, where he was raised "surrounded by a close-knit Cuban American community who shared old-world values and traditions."[4] In 2018, The Voice of America quoted him (in a review of an art show demonstrating "the richness and complexity of U.S. culture" as explaining that his parents "chose to come to this country that was offering asylum."[7]

Art[edit]

Garcia's artwork has been described as being "on the traditions of pop art …eliciting emotional reactions, introspective questions and celebrating Latino culture”,[9][10] and even "Warhol-esque."[11][12]

Picking up on that description, The Washington Post art critic Mark Jenkins, in a review of an immigration-themed show at the American University Museum, wrote "Ric Garcia updates Warhol by crisply and colorfully portraying edible products for the Latin market, with labels far funkier than any designed for Brillo or Campbell's."[13] American University described the work as "Garcia’s widely exhibited paintings and pop art prints are a cultural mash-up of Spanish and American culture."[4]

Garcia often incorporates superheroes,[14][15] Latino food imagery (most commonly Goya Foods[5][16][17] references),[11][18] Latino cultural references,[19][20] immigration themes,[21][11][22] cinematic icons,[23] and even gods[24] into his work. In the 2016 Washington Post review of American University Museum's The Looking Glass: Artist Immigrants of Washington exhibition, the Post art critic described Garcia's work in the exhibition as being "simultaneously mythic and as modern as a can of Goya black bean soup."[25]

In a review of his 2017 two-person show at Washington, DC's Foundry Gallery, the Washington Post art critic wrote that "Mid-20th-century superheroes and movie stars socialize with figures from Renaissance paintings in Foundry Gallery’s 'Dynamic Duos: Power and Form' Ric Garcia’s oils and prints feature DC and Marvel Comics characters..."[14] The Washington Post further noted that the work "seems an intentional rejection of today’s crisp digital imaging."[14] Along the theme of appropriated Latino food and drinks imagery, in 2020 Garcia showed a solo exhibition focused on the use of the Taino chief Hatuey in Latino food/drink imagery.[26]

Collections[edit]

Garcia's work has been acquired by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities for the Art Bank collection of the city of Washington, DC. It is also in the collection of the Arts and Cultural Heritage Division of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, and in the permanent collection of Prince George's County, Maryland.[6]

Awards[edit]

Garcia is a winner of the Maryland State Arts Council 2019 Individual Artists' Awards.[27]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Garcia Ric (Miami, FL 1968) - CONTEXT Art Miami - Artist Detail". www.contextartmiami.com. Retrieved 2019-04-30.
  2. ^ "Ric Garcia's Prints and Paintings". Arlington Public Library. 2012-12-01. Retrieved 2020-08-10.
  3. ^ "The artdc Gallery Presents Art in Action Curated by Ric Garcia and Grayson Heck | East City Art". www.eastcityart.com. Retrieved 2020-08-10.
  4. ^ a b c d Housman, Patty (2015-12-15). "The Looking Glass Visits the AU Museum". American University. Retrieved 2019-04-30.
  5. ^ a b "Meet Gateway Arts District Artists Becky Borlan, Nehemiah Dixon III & Ric Garcia". East City Art. 2015-05-07. Retrieved 2019-04-30.
  6. ^ a b "Ric Garcia | Artists and Makers Studios". Retrieved 2019-04-30.
  7. ^ a b Soh, June (2018-12-10). "One House, Many Voices: Art Depicting the Best of US". Voice of America. Retrieved 2019-04-30.
  8. ^ "Ric Garcia". ART WATCH DC. Retrieved 2019-04-30.
  9. ^ "Culture Pop: Opening Reception feat. Artist Ric Garcia -". Retrieved 2019-04-30.
  10. ^ "OFRENDAMOS A LA CATRINA". Hola Cultura. Retrieved 2020-08-10.
  11. ^ a b c ""The Looking Glass: Artist Immigrants of Washington" At the Katzen Arts Center, Reviewed". Washington City Paper. Retrieved 2019-04-30.
  12. ^ "Arte Al Día". www.artealdia.com. Retrieved 2019-04-30.
  13. ^ Jenkins, Mark (2016-07-30). "In the galleries". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2019-04-30.
  14. ^ a b c Jenkins, Mark (2017-08-18). "In the galleries: The art of politics has exploded in Washington". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2019-04-30.
  15. ^ "Supernatural: In the Face of Danger". Goucher College. Retrieved 2019-04-30.
  16. ^ "Goya Virgen (2015)". Artsy. 2015-01-01. Retrieved 2020-08-10.
  17. ^ "2020 Regional Juried Exhibition – Hill Center DC". Retrieved 2020-08-10.
  18. ^ "No Borders". Baltimore Sun. 2017-10-03.
  19. ^ "Celebrate the Art of Life at AAC's 10th Annual Day of the Dead Celebration!". Arlington Arts Center. Retrieved 2020-08-10.
  20. ^ "Latino art headlines at the Smithsonian". Hola Cultura. 2013-10-25. Retrieved 2020-08-10.
  21. ^ "School 33 Art Center - Out/Side & In/Between". School 33. 2017-10-28. Retrieved 2020-08-10.
  22. ^ "Through the Looking Glass: Artist Immigrants in Washington at the American University Museum". Hola Cultura. 2016-07-21. Retrieved 2020-08-10.
  23. ^ "Super America: Paintings and Prints by Ric Garcia". Bethesda Magazine. Retrieved 2020-08-10.
  24. ^ Jenkins, Mark (2017-04-20). "In the galleries: At annual benefit show, the world goes round". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2019-04-30.
  25. ^ Jenkins, Mark (2016-07-30). "In the galleries: Norman Rockwell would have recognized these socialist images". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2022-01-26.
  26. ^ "Hatuey: Rebel Chief – MARYLAND MILESTONES". Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  27. ^ "MARYLAND STATE ARTS COUNCIL FY 2019. INDIVIDUAL ARTIST AWARDS" (PDF). Maryland State Arts Council. 2019-04-20. Retrieved 2019-08-02.
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