February 2012 Joe Ramiro Garcia But Seriously… opening reception: First Friday, February 3, 2012 6–9 pm artist will be in attendance artist's talk: Saturday, February 4, 1–3 pm refreshments by Moxie exhibition runs through February 25, 2012 
Garden, oil and alkyd on canvas over panel, 60" x 60"
Click to view Joe's entire exhibition Joe Ramiro Garcia (American, 1966) Born in Houston, Texas, Joe Ramiro Garcia attended Houston's High School for the Performing and Visual Arts before studying at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Garcia's education includes color training with Julian Robles, as well as workshops with David Pagel, Thomas Nozkowski, Roland Reis and Squeak Carnwath.
Some people believe that paintings have meanings. Although I employ images from cartoons, animals, and objects in my work, I do not believe in creating a specific narrative.
Instead I am sensitive to the charge or implication imagery lends to the painting’s surface. My interest in using familiar and even commercial imagery is in our ability to reanimate and project our own story onto them.
I begin most paintings by troweling on thick layers of oil paint, and then slowly reworking the surface as the layer dries to a texture similar to clay. I utilize various mark making techniques learned from printmaking in my painting process. One in particular is a pressless lithography method I use to create a photographic or printed look. Regardless of what the painting appears there are no other media used in the work besides oil paint.
Paintings are like walls. They remind me of the places I’ve lived around. Their surfaces recall kitchens, bedrooms, backyards and tool sheds.
If there is a message in my painting, it’s that I’m not sure of anything and I’m okay with it.
In 2005, Joe Ramiro Garcia was honored with a Painters and Sculptors Grant from the Joan Mitchell Foundation. Exhibited in museums, prominent galleries and private collections internationally, Joe Ramiro Garcia works and resides in Santa Fe, NM and has exhibited with Blue Gallery, Kansas City, MO since 2000. |