The Art of Francisco Garcia
Mile Enders are used to street art, so it takes something special to catch their collective eye. Lately, people have been noticing the work of Francisco Garcia, a thirtysomething artists whose painted black-and-white posters have appeared above storefronts and on alley walls all around the Montreal neighbourhood. In an article published last year, Reading Montreal praised Garcia’s paintings for their “restrained composition, muted greyscale shading” and “honest depiction of unstylized unadorned people.” Most recently, those people have included the entire staff of Open Da Night, an Italian sports café on St. Viateur Street, in a series of six posters mounted across the street from the café. It’s a cheeky and poignant homage to one of Mile End’s most beloved institutions.
“Garcia sees street art as a means of bringing art to the people, and not merely putting the people into art,” continues the Reading Montreal article.
Planting his paintings outside ensures a wide and varied audience, creating an open-air gallery that is available to all. While he mostly tries to situate his works where he himself can see them in his quotidian ramblings, he adds that “it’s fun to add art to poorer neighbourhoods. You know, these people don’t go to galleries, and can stand to use a little art in their lives. And if you bring smiles to people’s faces…” This, he says, is another of his principal motivations for creating art in the streets, because, “nowadays, nothing’s for free, so I’m happy to offer something that is.”
What has proven remarkable is the staying power of Garcia’s work. Most poster art vanishes as quickly as it appears, but many of Garcia’s paintings have remained in place for well over a year. In fact, one poster has become the de facto sign for a trendy fashion boutique that lacked one in the first place.
Some of Garcia’s art can be seen on his Flickr page; more can be seen under the “Francisco Garcia” tag.
Photo by Francisco Garcia
Tags: Montreal, Painting, Street Art
RS says:
What I like about this stuff is that I don’t catch it for at least 3-4 passes. It’s brilliant.
October 27th, 2006 at 4:27 am
dogcat says:
not bad young man
November 1st, 2006 at 8:05 pm
Eva says:
Garcia art work has a sensuality to it, even in its stark black and whiteness. It reveals a sensitivity, a needing to be appreciated and to share. It’s touching and beautiful.
November 2nd, 2006 at 2:43 pm
2Youth says:
‘Angel’ is truly dedicated to urban art, and has a hunger for street fame to rival any graffiti artist out there. One time when I was having a really bad day I saw my face plastered in an alley for the first time and my day just turned right around. Big it up!
November 3rd, 2006 at 1:24 am
Ksilkster says:
Frandisco is definitely an underrated painter. HIs art belongs in a gallery ,not on my freakin window!!, just kidding. When he did the one of me, people thought I was putting up my own face everywhere…some of his pieces actually do last a while out there…Angel!, post up more vids on urbanambush.com
November 3rd, 2006 at 3:32 am