Artists of Note | Santiago Garcia

Combining abstraction and representation

Santiago Garcia, Andante #25, mixed media, 52 x 60.

This story was featured in the August 2014 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art August 2014 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story!

When Santiago Garcia was growing up in Uruguay, he often explored the fields and meadows that surrounded his home, fascinated with the animals that roamed the countryside. He first studied biology in college; then in the mid-1990s, under an art scholarship with the University of
 Uruguay, Garcia studied with master engraver Eduardo Fornasari, painter Clever Lara, and acclaimed ceramicist Susana Pizzurno. “My career has been fueled by a desire to find new ways to create something extraordinary,” the oil and acrylic painter says. “All of my teachers brought something to the table, from sculpture to figurative and abstract painting styles. Perhaps that’s the reason why I have the ability to work with different aesthetic approaches and techniques.”

Garcia’s paintings often incorporate seemingly contradictory elements that he brings into harmony. Some of his paintings show animals in absurd situations where the modern world clashes with the wild. Others depict Converse shoes that serve as metaphors for family, relationships, and reminders of where we’ve been and where we’re going. Still others are bold abstractions with few, if any, representational elements. “I am always interested in the interaction between figuration and abstraction,” he says. “Maybe they’re two sides of the same coin; the boundary between them is very subjective and variable. I like to play between these two styles.” —Joe Kovack

Garcia is represented by District Gallery, Park City, UT; Hueys Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM; Atelier Gallery, Charleston, SC; Gallery Bergelli, San Francisco, CA; Eisenhauer Gallery, Edgartown, MA; Melissa Morgan Fine Art, Palm Desert, CA; and Whistler Village Art Gallery, Whistler, BC, Canada.

Featured in the August 2014 issue of Southwest Art magazine–click below to purchase:
Southwest Art August 2014 print issue or digital download Or subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss a story!