1965, 1970, 2002
Artist
Rupert Garcia
Year2002
Classification
painting
Medium
archival pigmented ink and acrylic on canvas
Dimensions37 1/2 x 74 1/4 in. (95.3 x 188.6 cm)
Credits
Commissioned through the Art in Architecture Program
Fine Arts Collection
U.S. General Services Administration
Fine Arts Collection
U.S. General Services Administration
In "1965, 1970, 2002," Rupert Garcia employs simplified shapes and bold colors to create challenging political commentary. This work is characteristic of the elegant paintings, drawings and prints he has created throughout his influential career, which examine such topics as oppression, the Chicano civil rights movement, the culture of art, and, in this case, the Vietnam War. Here, Garcia reworks the silhouette of a distraught Vietnamese woman he depicted in a 1970 antiwar poster and a self-portrait taken soon after he arrived in Vietnam. These images, juxtaposed with an abstract pattern meant to represent military fatalities, describe the vast casualties-both physical and psychological-that the artist experienced as a young soldier.