Photography by Yuvie Styles.
At 4 years old, drawing the Batman logo on a piece of paper in his living room in the ’60s, Art Garcia knew he was an artist.
“I just had this intuition. I have always done artwork and without the intention of getting seen or known,” Garcia says. “I remember watching Batman, and I would draw the logo that Adam West had on his chest. Ever since that, I knew I enjoyed making art.”
Guided by influential art teachers throughout school, Garcia has grown into an artist who is informed and inspired by the fluxes of social discourse. He creates pieces representing and influenced by topics such as the Black Lives Matter movement, LGBTQ+ issues, gun control and domestic violence.
With a small studio on Davis Street, Garcia is a Texas-born artist with over 30 years of experience. He’s been honored in journals and annuals in the United States and Europe. He has produced work for the City of Dallas, Georgetown, Southlake, New Orleans, The Meadows School of Art, University of Texas at Dallas, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the US Census.
Garcia earned his MFA from the University of Dallas and is a graduate of the Art Institute of Dallas. In 1998, he founded Graphic Content to support private, public and commercial endeavors. Garcia has guest lectured at the Art Institute of Dallas, the University of North Texas and South Arkansas State University.
Garcia’s often simplistic sculptures tap into his background in graphic design. After going through a rough period in his life, Garcia made a sculpture that would jumpstart the next chapter in his career.
“I went through a divorce, and it had been maybe a good five years of not making art,” Garcia says. “During that time, I tried to create anything and everything, and there was no joy in it whatsoever. There’s nothing that was coming out. It’s like, sometimes you get those lemons that are dry, and no matter how hard you squeeze, there’s no juice.”
This piece, Human Nature, sparked his creativity once again, and he turned his focus to sculpting as that is what he enjoyed most.
“My large body scale of work is Human Nature, and the smaller scale pieces are self portraits — they’re a little bit more whimsical, a little more personal in size,” Garcia says. “The larger ones have more to do with our social interaction with each other and the world.”
Different iterations of Human Nature, which are metal sculptures depicting a human figure, represent different issues and topics happening in the world. One touches on the border wall, one on LGBTQ+ issues and one was inspired by the Pulse nightclub shooting.
These pieces have traveled across the country, from Florida to Colorado, Alabama, Wyoming and California.
“I created in my mind that Human Nature is going to travel to other areas in the same way that we travel,” Garcia says. “Sometimes they’re tagged. Sometimes they’re not. Color decays, and they’re still living, breathing objects.”
Garcia has also completed Frolic, four serial forms in steel for Fire Station 32 and Adamson Vision, bas-relief murals for Adamson High School in Dallas. Past installations which he has created and managed encompass retail properties including The Riverwalk in New Orleans and Topanga Plaza in Canoga Park, California. Garcia’s emphasis is to create objects specific to the environment they exist.
His newest work is titled The Banquet, and is being featured in the Mausoleum at the Crown Hill Memorial Park cemetery near Bachman Lake in the Preston Hollow area. In the center of La Ceiba: The Sacred Tree of Life Art Exhibition is Garcia’s piece, which presents a glimpse into spiritual worlds through offerings at the dinner table. Expanding on the traditional offering at the altar, the installation sets a banquet. It becomes a heavenly gathering, honoring 21 distinct lives, people who are buried in Crown Hill Memorial Park and Mausoleum.
“I think I wanted to show the idea of, you know what we might think heaven would look like, and what would it look like if we’re in a mausoleum and we invite those who passed,” Garcia says. “We want to transform the space into, kind of a heaven-like space, and use different white material, everything and anything is white.”
Garcia is also working on a fence for the City of Garland. No matter where his work takes him, he is happy to be creating in any form.
“I really enjoy large scale public artwork right now,” Garcia says. “I have 60 more years in me, and I think I’m going to be like a really cool old age. I’m going to enjoy every minute of it.”
