About the Artist

JOJO V. GARCIA

LUIS “JOJO” GARCIA, JR. was born and raised in Caloocan. He first took up Fine Arts major in Advertising at the University of the East (UE), but later on transferred to the Philippine Women’s University where he switched his major to Painting. He worked in animation for more than twenty years, starting as an in-betweener at Fil-Cartoons. Garcia later on moved to Kennedy Cartoons, Moving Images, and Toon City where he’d had his last animation job as retakes checker.

Garcia went into painting full-time when he left animation. Beginning 2009, he started a series of paintings that can be classified as pop art. His initial subject matter were jeepneys, Coke in cans, and Converse sneakers. Although his first series of paintings were all rendered in impasto with their thick application of paint, his current works with their smooth reflective surface display affinity with the luminist landscapists’ penchant for hiding their brushstrokes. Garcia later on added to his repertoire depictions of rock musicians, soft electric guitars, and images of teen guitarists in pop- surreal settings.

Garcia’s career as a full-time painter was launched when Kartini Asia Gallery featured him in a solo exhibit in 2015. He had also participated in 25 group art exhibits, most notable of which were the “Renascence” at Sigwada Gallery, “Lansangan” at Kartini Asia Gallery, “Pamiyabe/Pagkakaisa” at the Clark Museum, “Art Struck” at the Celebrity Sports Plaza, and “Hide Art: Leather as Canvas” at the Makati Shangri-la.

Garcia presently reside in Valenzuela City with wife Aileen Beltran, an interior design graduate, and former instructor at the UE School.of Music and Fine Arts.