Death of a Hero, Rise of a Champion
Ricardo Partida
May 14–June 20, 2021
Ricardo Partida (b. 1990) is a Mexican born, Chicago based painter and recent graduate from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago’s Master of Fine Arts in Studio program. His work largely critiques and illuminates depictions of gender and desire in the Western Art Canon. Using the visual language of figura serpentinata, his works create exalted alter egos that question conventional power structures while obscuring artist and subject. Through the use of surface treatments, mark making, and hybridizing lines and proportions previously associated with a gendered painting language, his work creates surrogacies of seduction that explore carnal desires by creating a push and pull of menace and allure. Partida’s work has been exhibited nationally including Texas, Chicago, and New York.