Richard Monge - A Profile of the Artist

I was born in the beautiful island of Puerto Rico, where I lived for 18 years until I graduated college with a Bachelors degree in Fine Arts (BFA) from the University of Puerto Rico (Rio Piedras) in 1992. After graduation, I decided to change my surroundings and moved to New York City, where I became a teacher for the Board of Education. However, after one year of teaching, I realized I was still hungry for education and for creating, not teaching. I then decided to enroll in Pratt Institute for their Masters degree program in Fine Arts (MFA), majoring in printmaking and multi-media (graphic design, photography & video). I loved that time of my life and graduated in 1996 when again, I was ready for a new challenge.

Right after graduation I was able to relocate to London where I gained professional experience as a graphic designer in a publishing company (Rapid Science Publishing). At that time, and thanks to the accessibility I was able to travel through Europe and experience the richness of different cultures evoking my Latin Heritage. Living in New York and London in the 1990s fostered an experimental attitude that attracted me to work in a variety of media (painting, printmaking, photography, video, sculpture and computer graphic design), ultimately integrating these into my own creative language. My diversified background and exposure to these new experiences are what has led me to define my point of view of the world today.

Following an invitation by The Skopelos Foundation for the Arts (Skopelos, Greece) in 1999 prompted a unique sense of freedom and timelessness. This gave me the strength to confront the unfortunate and unexpected death of my dear father soon after. This loss was internalized and expressed through my creations. The personal experiences I had in Greece with its rich culture, combined with the physical departure of my Dad created my series entitled "Iconographic Patterns". Here I incorporated elements of Byzantine iconography and personal loss expressed as a state of emotion that is linked together by the technique of sewing, something that has been a key element of survival within my family for many generations. I beatified my father and others that had been part of my life and created my own "Saints".

Through my work I depict ideas through subtle hints and allusions, creating an ambiguous collage of fragments and details. My range of imagery deals fundamentally with the subject matter of identity (ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, childhood, class), shaped by an individual perspective. My work is deeply influenced by personal memories, dreams, and objects, presented with baroque qualities of ornamentation and adding a dash of kitsch.

Fortunately my body of work has been shown at various private and institutional galleries in New York, Boston, Chicago, Puerto Rico, at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Santiago de Chile, the Skopelos Foundation in Greece, the Majdanek State Museum in Lublin, the Aleksandr Art Centre in Uzbekistan, the Institute of Contemporary Art in London and most recently in the Centro Cultural Pablo de la Torriente Brau in Cuba.

I was able to go back to the Skopelos Foundation for the Arts in Greece for an Art residency in October 2004, conceptualizing my new body of work entitled "The Garden of the Ednas". This series was presented in September 2005 in Space Other, Boston MA and traveled to new York for a close-up look from 2006-2007 at TwoDo Space in the Upper West Side.

In 2008, I decided to explore the digital world and work exclusively as an Art Director and Graphic Designer for many organizations and private clients. (see the graphic design section). The detachment from the fine arts media helped me travel to a peaceful place and by 2010 I was able to finalized one of my series in progress entitled "Awakenings", marking a turning point in my personal and professional life.

Currently in 2011 I've completed the series entitles "Snow Red" which combines the mediums of photography and graphic design while exploring the theme of tradition and fairytales.

My upcoming series entitled "Dollpera", combines fine arts and graphic design and introduces one of my newest passions, the world of Opera. The series will be up Winter 2012. Richard Monge, Ricardo Monge, Ricky Monge, Rich Monge