Ricardo Partida (CV)

Ricardo Partida is a 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 Cannon. By using the visual language of figura serpentina, his works create surrogacies of seduction that question conventional power structures. Through the use of surface treatments and mark making, his work explores carnal desires through the push and pull of menace and allure. Born in Mexico City, Mexico and raised in the borderlands of South Texas, Partida’s work has been exhibited nationally including Texas, Chicago, and New York.

Artist Statement

Since the beginning, my practice has consisted of creating a body of work that includes unconventional ideas of gender and sexuality as part of its value system. I create power structures that dismantle and infiltrate Western ideas of gender and desire. In my practice, I paint saucy mythological avatars that embody power and desire. By combining neoclassical representations of Greek mythology and running it through a homoerotic filter, I create fantasy surrogacies of seduction that include unconventional ideas of gender performance and sexuality as part of its value system.

In my work the subject matter morphs and changes but always remains consistent of its reference the “Fag Fatale”, my idea of an effeminate man bringing the world down to its knees. My intention is for someone who often feels othered to see the work and feel seen.