Challenging Perception

A Malibu kid who grew up immersed in his parents’ creativity, artist John Garcia, Jr.’s work is currently exhibited in Sweet Dreams in Copenhagen, Denmark’s Simian Gallery.

The exhibition, in collaboration with Bri Williams, focuses on how representations transform our understandings of both the world and ourselves. Specifically, how shifts that occur between a romanticized love, such as in novels or films, compare with an experienced everyday love.

“The title of my oil painting is Dead Roses,” they said, noting the work alludes to Alice in Wonderland’s “Paint the Roses,” where the cards with their exaggerated smiles are gardeners tasked with fabricating the red-hued roses the Queen of Hearts desires.

Looking closely - what Garcia has created is a work composed of hundreds of dead roses, moribund yet curiously intriguing, vibrant, and seemingly almost alive, akin to Malibu’s plants and flowers that were fire-parched and burned to the core, as were all of Garcia’s belongings in the Woolsey Fire. Garcia’s painting also alludes to the ballet “Le Specter de la Rose,” set in the bedroom of a girl who falls in love with a rose that animates itself in the night to dance with her in her dreams. The takeaway: Love is a looping back to a person— lover or friend—to renew the bond between ever-changing beings.”

MALIBU MAGAZINE loves John Garcia as their art challenges one’s perceptions, daring us to stay grounded, yet always yearning for what seems unattainable.

If you have suggestions for community members to feature in our next issue, email us at editorial@malibumag.com ✎ written by Barbara Burke