This is the first biography of the renowned American Chicano visual artist and activist Rupert Garcia, drawing on fifty hours of interviews conducted over thirty years and accompanied by eighty images. This in-depth oral history gives an unparalleled look at Garcia's life and work, tracing his evolution as an artist and the political upheavals that shaped his life and worldview. Mario T. Garcia's testimonio places Rupert Garcia's art in historical perspective, from his beginnings as a working-class Mexican American from California's Central Valley, his coming of age in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War, his involvement in the antiwar movement during the San Francisco State student strike in 1968-69, and his participation in the Chicano Movement and beyond. Influenced by history and politics, Garcia's vital works of art represent a changing world through the eyes of an artist, speaking to issues of poverty, racism, capitalism, war, and the role of the artist in society. His art-from revolutionary silkscreen posters to monumental pastels to portraits of political icons like Frida Kahlo, Che Guevara, and Dolores Huerta-serves to critique history and reassess it. It is work that will endure for generations to come.
Mario T. Garcia is a distinguished professor of Chicano studies and history at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has published over 20 books over the course of his career, including Blowout!: Sal Castro and the Chicano Struggle for Educational Justice and The Latino Generation: Voices of the New America.
Introduction 1 1 Stockton Boy 27 2 School Days 43 3 Junior College and the City 59 4 Indochina 73 5 San Francisco State 90 6 The Mission Cultural Renaissance 119 7 Moving On 161 8 Fluorescence 197 9 Millennial Artist 245 Afterword 274 Acknowledgments 279 Notes 281 Index 289
"Long overdue but worth the wait, this is a critical contribution to U.S. history, American art history, and social sciences. Offering un gran testimonio of vanguard Chicano artist Rupert Garcia, historian Mario Garcia's book is the model and blueprint for comprehensive examinations of key figures in our shared social struggles and cultural victories." - Ella Maria Diaz, author of Jose Montoya "With his roots in the revolutionary foundation of the Third World movement, Rupert GarcIa's global perspective is now a legendary part of American art. He takes his place within the context of significant contemporary artists through his powerful graphic complexity, refined image making, and intellectual honesty." - Amalia Mesa-Bains, artist, cultural critic, and MacArthur Fellow "The master of the testimonio does it again! Mario T. Garcia lets an important but overlooked American artist tell the story of his life, with the images both visual and literary to match." - Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times columnist)
