Eric Garcia
Every warrior has a weapon and mine is my art. In my work I try to visually examine the versions of “American” history that have been overlooked and whitewashed. Aware that history is used as a strategy of domination, I attempt to subvert through my art the various dominant histories of the United States. History, culture, and politics are three key issues of my work. I politically charge allegories of my cultural history in hopes that the viewer will learn and also react. I want to create dialogue about the issues that shape our histories, and in turn shape our identities, and our futures.
The media I use range from paintings to hand printed posters to inked political cartoons, but they all have a common goal of educating and challenging. I call my painting style “comic baroque,” which is shaped by both the early childhood influences of comic books and later by Colonial Baroque paintings. I fuse these two different (but connected) styles by drawing out my figures as cartoonish caricatures, then placing them in dramatic settings accompanied by satirical script. Like a comic book cover and the Baroque paintings before them, I try to tell a story with just one crucial scene.
The power of the imagery is a tremendous vehicle for telling stories. Through my art I try to make imagery that not only reflects on the past but also poses challenges to the present. I consider my art a historically based, politically charged criticism, with the goal of creating dialogue about the issues that affect history and identity.
Previous Artist: Lyle Carbajal
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