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Rupert Garcia and the Chicano Art Movement:
Prints and Posters from the Corcoran Legacy Collection
June 17 – August 13, 2023
“Rupert Garcia has a profoundly sophisticated understanding of color, form, negative space, and the power of restraint. Garcia’s work is a masterclass in efficiency because it contains only what communicates instantly and gives the image its most potent essence.”
-Shepard Fairey
Rupert Garcia, Perromictlan, 1973. Screenprint, 26 × 20 inches. Gift from the Trustees of the Corcoran Gallery of Art (Museum Purchase, Gift of Richard Rodriguez).
Exhibition Overview
One of the world's most acclaimed Chicano artists, Rupert Garcia – born in 1941 in California – is known for showcasing the social issues for which he fought. After participating in the 1968 student strike in San Francisco, he became more and more aware of the artist’s role as a social activist.
During this time, he shifted from easel painting to printmaking, creating images that dealt with a variety of political concerns including racism, the Chicano movement, the struggle of the immigrant farm worker, and the poisoning of the environment.
Today, he is known as a painter, pastelist, and screenprinter who has led a movement against “Yankee” culture through the production and use of posters and screenprints.
This exhibition displays over 20 prints by the activist-artist and serves as an introduction to the Chicano Art Movement.
Rupert Garcia, The Mexican Museum Inaugural Exhibit of Mexican and Chicano Art, 1976. Offset lithograph, 22 15/16 x 17 inches. Gift from the Trustees of the Corcoran Gallery of Art (Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Gerald D. Kohs).
Rupert Garcia, Fuera de Panama, 1989. Silkscreen, 28 3/4 x 22 3/4 x 2 inches. Gift from the Trustees of the Corcoran Gallery of Art (Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Gerald D. Kohs).