Ric Garcia
{{short description|Painter (b. 1968)}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Ric Garcia
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|birth_date = 1968
|birth_place = Miami, Florida
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|nationality = American
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|known_for = Printmaking & painting
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|alma_mater = University of Miami
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|website = http://ricgarciastudio.com
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Ric Garcia (born 1968 Miami, Florida){{Cite web|url=https://www.contextartmiami.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=145&tabindex=144&artistID=164446|title=Garcia Ric (Miami, FL 1968) - CONTEXT Art Miami - Artist Detail|website=www.contextartmiami.com|access-date=2019-04-30}} is an American fine arts painter, digital printmaker,{{Cite web|date=2012-12-01|title=Ric Garcia's Prints and Paintings|url=https://library.arlingtonva.us/2012/10/19/ric-garcias-prints-art-exhibit/|access-date=2020-08-10|website=Arlington Public Library}} and curator{{Cite web|title=The artdc Gallery Presents Art in Action Curated by Ric Garcia and Grayson Heck {{!}} East City Art|url=https://www.eastcityart.com/openings-and-events/the-artdc-gallery-presents-art-in-action-curated-by-ric-garcia-and-grayson-heck/|access-date=2020-08-10|website=www.eastcityart.com}} of Cuban ancestry{{Cite web|url=https://www.american.edu/cas/news/looking-glass-visits-au-museum.cfm|title=The Looking Glass Visits the AU Museum|last=Housman|first=Patty|date=2015-12-15|website=American University|language=en|access-date=2019-04-30}} currently working and residing in the Greater Washington, DC area.{{Cite web|url=http://www.eastcityart.com/writers-blog/meet-gateway-arts-district-artists-becky-borlan-nehemiah-dixon-iii-ric-garcia/|title=Meet Gateway Arts District Artists Becky Borlan, Nehemiah Dixon III & Ric Garcia|date=2015-05-07|website=East City Art|access-date=2019-04-30}}
Education
Garcia studied and received a BFA in Graphic Design and Illustration from the University of Miami in Florida.{{Cite web|url=https://artistsandmakersstudios.com/ric-garcia/|title=Ric Garcia {{!}} Artists and Makers Studios|language=en-US|access-date=2019-04-30}}
Life
Garcia's parents were Cuban political refugees{{Cite web|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/one-house-art-exhibit/4693815.html|title=One House, Many Voices: Art Depicting the Best of US|last=Soh|first=June|date=2018-12-10|website=Voice of America|language=en|access-date=2019-04-30}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.artwatchdc.com/ric-garcia|title=Ric Garcia|website=ART WATCH DC|language=en-US|access-date=2019-04-30}} who immigrated to the United States in 1966. He was born in Miami, where he was raised "surrounded by a close-knit Cuban American community who shared old-world values and traditions." 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."
Art
Garcia's artwork has been described as being "on the traditions of pop art …eliciting emotional reactions, introspective questions and celebrating Latino culture”,{{Cite web|url=https://www.hyattsvillewire.com/event/culture-pop-opening-reception-feat-artist-ric-garcia/|title=Culture Pop: Opening Reception feat. Artist Ric Garcia -|language=en-US|access-date=2019-04-30}}{{Cite web|title=OFRENDAMOS A LA CATRINA|url=https://www.holacultura.com/gallery-galeria/ofrendamos-a-la-catrina/|access-date=2020-08-10|website=Hola Cultura}} and even "Warhol-esque."{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/arts/museums-galleries/blog/20827987/the-looking-glass-artist-immigrants-of-washington-at-the-katzen-arts-center-reviewed|title="The Looking Glass: Artist Immigrants of Washington" At the Katzen Arts Center, Reviewed|website=Washington City Paper|language=en|access-date=2019-04-30}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.artealdia.com/Reviews/Artist-Immigrants-of-Washington-The-Looking-Glass|title=Arte Al Día|website=www.artealdia.com|access-date=2019-04-30}}
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."{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/in-the-galleries-norman-rockwell-would-have-recognized-these-socialist-images/2016/07/29/785274aa-528b-11e6-bbf5-957ad17b4385_story.html|title=In the galleries|last=Jenkins|first=Mark|date=2016-07-30|work=The Washington Post|access-date=2019-04-30}} 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."
Garcia often incorporates superheroes,{{Cite web|url=https://www.goucher.edu/silber-art-gallery/exhibits/supernatural-in-the-face-of-danger|title=Supernatural: In the Face of Danger|website=Goucher College|language=en|access-date=2019-04-30}} Latino food imagery (most commonly Goya Foods{{Cite web|date=2015-01-01|title=Goya Virgen (2015)|url=https://www.artsy.net/artwork/ric-garcia-goya-virgen|access-date=2020-08-10|website=Artsy}}{{Cite web|title=2020 Regional Juried Exhibition – Hill Center DC|url=https://www.hillcenterdc.org/artist/2020-regional-juried-exhibition/|access-date=2020-08-10|language=en-US}} references),{{Cite news|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/arts/bcp-100417-art-outside-inbetween-20171003-19-story.html|title=No Borders|date=2017-10-03|work=Baltimore Sun}} Latino cultural references,{{Cite web|title=Celebrate the Art of Life at AAC's 10th Annual Day of the Dead Celebration!|url=https://arlingtonartscenter.org/2013/10/30/celebrate-the-art-of-life-at-aacs-10th-annual-day-of-the-dead-celebration/|access-date=2020-08-10|website=Arlington Arts Center|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|date=2013-10-25|title=Latino art headlines at the Smithsonian|url=https://www.holacultura.com/hc-listing-latino-art-headlines-at-the-smithsonian/|access-date=2020-08-10|website=Hola Cultura}} immigration themes,{{Cite web|date=2017-10-28|title=School 33 Art Center - Out/Side & In/Between|url=http://www.school33.org/index.cfm?page=events§ion=1&eventID=3152|access-date=2020-08-10|website=School 33}}{{Cite web|date=2016-07-21|title=Through the Looking Glass: Artist Immigrants in Washington at the American University Museum|url=https://www.holacultura.com/latino-links-going-out-in-the-week-ahead-17/|access-date=2020-08-10|website=Hola Cultura}} cinematic icons,{{Cite web|title=Super America: Paintings and Prints by Ric Garcia|url=https://bethesdamagazine.com/event/super-america-paintings-and-prints-by-ric-garcia/|access-date=2020-08-10|website=Bethesda Magazine|language=en-US}} and even gods{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/in-the-galleries-at-annual-benefit-show-the-world-goes-round/2017/04/19/4531c3a0-23a0-11e7-a1b3-faff0034e2de_story.html|title=In the galleries: At annual benefit show, the world goes round|last=Jenkins|first=Mark|date=2017-04-20|work=The Washington Post|access-date=2019-04-30}} 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."{{Cite news|last=Jenkins|first=Mark|date=2016-07-30|title=In the galleries: Norman Rockwell would have recognized these socialist images|language=en-US|work=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/in-the-galleries-norman-rockwell-would-have-recognized-these-socialist-images/2016/07/29/785274aa-528b-11e6-bbf5-957ad17b4385_story.html|access-date=2022-01-26|issn=0190-8286}}
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..."{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/in-the-galleries-the-art-of-politics-has-exploded-in-washington/2017/08/18/4da90e5a-80aa-11e7-9e7a-20fa8d7a0db6_story.html|title=In the galleries: The art of politics has exploded in Washington|last=Jenkins|first=Mark|date=2017-08-18|work=The Washington Post|access-date=2019-04-30}} The Washington Post further noted that the work "seems an intentional rejection of today’s crisp digital imaging." 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.{{Cite web|title=Hatuey: Rebel Chief – MARYLAND MILESTONES|url=http://www.anacostiatrails.org/hatuey-rebel-chief|access-date=2020-07-30|language=en-US}}
Collections
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.
Awards
Garcia is a winner of the Maryland State Arts Council 2019 Individual Artists' Awards.{{Cite web|url=https://www.msac.org/sites/default/files/files/FY2019%20IAA%20AWARDEES_FINAL.pdf|title=MARYLAND STATE ARTS COUNCIL FY 2019. INDIVIDUAL ARTIST AWARDS|date=2019-04-20|website=Maryland State Arts Council|access-date=2019-08-02}}