Rupert García - by Mario T García (Hardcover)

About the Book

Rupert García: The Making of an American Artist, a Testimonio is a compelling story of a working-class Mexican American becoming an artist with national and international recognition. Based on extensive interviews over many years, Mario T. García provides an autobiographical narrative of an American artist greatly influenced by history and politics.

Book Synopsis

Rupert García: The Making of an American Artist, a Testimonio is a compelling story of a working-class Mexican American from California's Central Valley who became a major American artist with national and international recognition. Mario T. García's oral history of Rupert García, based on extensive interviews over many years, provides a compelling autobiographical narrative of the life and times of an American artist. This testimonio places Rupert García's art in historical perspective, spanning his beginnings in Stockton, California and his time in the Air Force, including participating in the U.S. war in Vietnam, to his experience at San Francisco State during the historic San Francisco State student strike in 1968-69. Influenced by history and politics, Rupert García's art speaks to a changing America through the eyes of an artist, speaking to issues of race, class, imperialism, war, and the role of the artist in society.

Review Quotes

"With his roots in the revolutionary foundation of the Third World movement, Rupert García'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"

"Long overdue but worth the wait, this is a critical contribution to U.S. history, American art history, and scholarly intersections in the humanities and social sciences. Offering un gran testimonio of vanguard Chicano artist Rupert García, historian Mario García'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 José Montoya"

About the Author

MARIO T. GARCÍA 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.