Ric Garcia

About the Artist

Ric Garcia is a Cuban-American painter and digital printmaker. His work is a sampling of visual information from various sources that are combined into a new expression of Americana, inspired by his bi-cultural experiences. His pop art style paintings are a meditation on identity and explore language, hero worship, gender and Latino culture as subject matter. Garcia exhibits in the DC metro area and has been part of exhibits at American University, Katzen Art Center in Washington DC, and The Smithsonian’s Aviation museum in College Park MD. His paintings and digital prints are part of public and private art collections. Most recently acquired by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Art Bank collection. His work is also in the collection of the Arts and Cultural Heritage Division of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, Prince George’s County, Maryland. Ric Garcia earned a BFA in graphic design and illustration from the University of Miami. He is currently on staff with the Smithsonian Institution as a visual designer.

Artist's Statement

I use visual information from various image sources. My work references various cultures and modern myths focusing on hero worship, literary works, Latino and gender cultures. This work explores how American culture past and present portrays gender when communicating stories about social structure, identity, and morality. Looking to comic book panels of the 1950s I began to create work based on the sensibilities from that period but introduced contemporary issues, concerns and a bilingual context to the narrative when reworking the images in a fresh way. The visual style of these paintings take inspiration from The Fleischer Superman cartoons series of the 1940s and artist such as Wayne Boring (Superman), and Harry George Peter (Wonder Woman). I work in a pop art style because it allows for the representation of ideas with power, directness, and flexibility. The style also allows for the use of shape, color, line, and, design as fundamental tools to create bold and dynamic works.