René Garcia

René Garcia, Jr. was born in Los Angeles in 1973 and was raised in a rural suburb of Southern California’s Inland Empire. His formative surroundings were defined by immigrant ranchers, citrus groves, and low desert horse and motocross culture. Fine arts came naturally to him, and after studying film and literature at the University of California at Santa Cruz René moved to San Francisco and began a career in animation production. Working in animated film production led René from San Francisco to New York, to Berlin and back again, and presented him the unique opportunity of collaborating with exceptional artists of every caliber from around the world. With gained perspective came gained confidence and in 2001 René dedicated himself to creating his own art full time.

René draws upon a broad palette of established techniques, media, and experience in an effort to re-imagine popular art. An accomplished painter, graphic designer, illustrator, sculptor and stereo photographer, it his large format sculptural glitter paintings that have drawn the most recognition. His paintings are carefully handcrafted for maximum impact, with some pieces taking over 100 hours to complete. Glitter demands interface; it must be witnessed first-hand in order to appreciate how it sparkles. René exploits this fact in an effort to create art that is truly unique by design. His glitter pieces are highly reflective changes in lighting and movement add vibrancy, depth and dimension. These works are deliberately difficult to reproduce or photograph and must be seen firsthand to be believed. René introduced his work in 2002 in a solo exhibition at San Francisco's New Black Gallery. His distinctive paintings gained the immediate attention of San Francisco curators, and René followed quickly with solo shows at Glama-Rama!, Diesel (Flagship store), Capella Event Center, and Lo-fi Customs Gallery. A 2004 exhibition at Seattle's Roq LaRue gallery drew large crowds as his controversial painting "Superman" was featured on the cover of The Stranger, the nations most widely distributed weekly paper. René has also gained the attention of various interior designers. His paintings are prominently displayed in many distinguished home and business interiors around the world, including San Francisco's Frisson, and Bistro 1689. Recently René was commissioned to create customized gifts for presenters at the 2005 Emmy Awards. He helped to stage a reception party for the Beastie Boys documentary "Awesome: I Fuckin' Shot That" at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, he staged a solo exhibition of unique sand sculptured paintings at the 2006 Independent Spirit Awards, and he created "1970's Time Capsule" to benefit school music programs that was featured at the 2006 Coachella Music Festival. His work was last seen at Project: Studios in Los Angeles.

René continues to live and work in San Francisco. He has recently married and welcomed a beautiful son, René Valentino Garcia, III. Look out world.