Rupert García (born in 1941 in San Joaquin Valley of

French Camp, California French Camp (from ''Campo de los Franceses'', Spanish for "Field of the Frenchmen") is an unincorporated community in San Joaquin County, California, United States. The population was 3,770 as of the 2020 census. Up from 3,376 at the 2010 census, a ...

) is an American Chicano visual artist and professor. He is known as a painter, pastellist, and screen printer. In the 1960s, as a leader, he led a movement against 'Yankee' culture through the production and use of posters, and screen prints. In 1970, he co-founded the

Galería de la Raza Galería de la Raza (GDLR) is a non-profit art gallery and artist collective founded in 1970, that serves the largely Chicano and Latino population of San Francisco's Mission District. GDLR mounts exhibitions, hosts poetry readings, workshops, a ...

in San Francisco.

Biography

Rupert García was born in 1941 in French Camp, an agricultural town. He growing up in the nearby city of Stockton.

Education

García studied painting at a junior college, and enrolled at San Francisco State College (now

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different ...

) for pop-art. He graduated from with a BFA degree in painting in 1968. During his study in San Francisco State College, he joined the

anti-war movement An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to p ...

and participated in the 1968 student strike organized by the

Third World Liberation Front In 1968, the Third World Liberation Front (TWLF), a coalition of the Black Students Union, the Latin American Students Organization, the Filipino American Collegiate Endeavor (PACE) the Filipino-American Students Organization, the Asian American ...

. In 1981, he has received an MFA degree in printmaking, an MA degree in art history and a PhD in art education from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

Career

¡LIBERTAD PARA LOS PRISONEROS POLITICAS!

García served in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

, participating in

Operation Rolling Thunder Operation Rolling Thunder was a gradual and sustained aerial bombardment campaign conducted by the United States (U.S.) 2nd Air Division (later Seventh Air Force), U.S. Navy, and Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) against the Democratic R ...

. During his study in San Francisco State College, he joined the

and participated in the 1968 student strike organized by the

. He stopped painting until the mid-70s, instead creating political posters denouncing violence against Latinos and Blacks in the United States. In 1968, he decided to stop painting and made political posters condemning violence against Latinos, blacks and other minorities in the United States. In 1988, he taught in

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

, School of Art and Art History department and retired in 2010. Since 2011 to present, he is the Professor Emeritus of Art, in

. In 2011, he exhibited at the

de Young museum The de Young Museum, formally the M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, is a fine arts museum located in San Francisco, California. Located in Golden Gate Park, it is a component of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, along with the California Pala ...

. His work is in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts.

Solo exhibition (2000–present)

Publications

References

External links

*
Oral history interview with Rupert Garcia, 1995 Sept. 7-1996 June 24
from

Archives of American Art The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washingt ...

, Smithsonian Institution 1941 births People from French Camp, California 20th-century American printmakers 21st-century American printmakers Painters from California San Francisco State University alumni San Jose State University faculty Living people Hispanic and Latino American artists {{US-painter-1940s-stub