{{short description|Mexican artist}} {{Infobox person | name = Monica Garza | birth_date = 1988 | birth_place = Alamogordo, New Mexico | occupation = painter }}

'''Monica Garza''' (born in Alamogordo, New Mexico) is an American artist of Mexican and Korean background based in Atlanta, Georgia.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/monica-garza-art-241116|title=The brilliantly brazen brushstrokes of artist Monica Garza|date=2016-11-24|website=It's Nice That|access-date=2019-04-28}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kzsc.org/blog/2017/09/24/monica-kim-garza-food-culture-and-creating-art-from-atlanta-georgia/|title=Monica Kim Garza: Food, Culture, and Creating Art from Atlanta, Georgia - Interviews|date=2017-09-25|website=KZSC Santa Cruz|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-29}}</ref> She specializes in painting care-free, ethically and racially ambiguous women of color, of all body types.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.designindaba.com/articles/creative-work/monica-garza-paints-women-all-their-curvaceous-glory|title=Monica Garza paints women in all their curvaceous glory|website=Design Indaba|language=en|access-date=2019-05-29}}</ref> She is known for nude, contemporary portraits, contemporary figurative painting, sex and racial ethnicity, ceramic, text, and sculpture work.

== Biography == Born in 1988 in Alamogordo, New Mexico, Garza has a multi-cultural background with a Mexican father, and Korean mother. Garza resides in Atlanta, Georgia, where she focuses on her art after traveling on and off consistently. Her art work depicts women of different shades of brown, displaying the nude body, while playing sports, texting, working out, and the average modern-day leisure activities.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thefifthsense.i-d.co/en_gb/article/monica-garzas-female-form/|title=monica garza's female form|website=The Fifth Sense|language=en-gb|access-date=2019-05-29}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://i-d.co/article/irreverent-paintings-of-woc-living-their-best-nude-lives/|title=brilliant, irreverent paintings of woc living their best (nude) lives|last=Newell-Hanson|first=Alice|last2=Wheeler|first2=André-Naquian|date=2017-10-13|website=I-D|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-29}}</ref> Garza focuses on themes of sex positivity, self portraits, and modern day technology in her artwork. She emphasizes being unapologetically herself, when creating nude portraits of women doing the normal day-to-day functions. She creates her paintings based on her own cultural background and memories, which mainly exhibit women of color.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thefader.com/2015/09/24/monica-kim-garza-5boro|title=You Need Monica Kim Garza's Nude Paintings In Your Life|website=The FADER|language=en|access-date=2019-05-29}}</ref>

== Education == When Garza was 18 years old, she attended Syracruse University until she left to travel to Kibera, Kenya. Soon after, Garza attended California College of the Arts in San Francisco, where she earned a BFA in painting and drawing.<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.labelingmen.com/single-post/2015/10/31/MUSE-Artist-Monica-Garza|title=MUSE: Artist Monica Garza|website=Labeling Men|language=en|access-date=2019-05-29}}</ref>

== Artworks == === ''Bonjour De Monique, 2018'' === This art piece by Garza consists of acrylic, wool, embroidery string, and oil pastel on canvas. It is held in the VI Gallery at the Mine II show.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.artsy.net/artist/monica-kim-garza|title=Monica Kim Garza - 158 Artworks, Bio & Shows on Artsy|website=www.artsy.net|language=en|access-date=2019-04-28}}</ref> This piece displays a woman who appears to be enjoying her solitude in her own space. The color scheme is a soft pink, and a dark blue. The background displays a chaotic area with cups, utensils, and plants.

=== ''Desayuno'' 17, 2017 === This art piece by Garza consists of acrylic and oil pastel on canvas. It is held in the VI Gallery at the "Copenhagen V Show.<ref name=":2" /> This piece displays two racially ambiguous women very close to each other, sitting down on separate chairs. Their bodies are connecting through the palm of their hands.

=== ''Spf'', 2016 === This art piece by Garza consists of acrylic and oil pastel on paper.<ref name=":2" /> This piece by Garza displays a woman, specifically a woman of color, laying on a red rectangular object. The woman in the painting is nude, with a blue rectangular object adjacent to the red object. Fruit is also displayed in the painting, above the woman.

== Exhibitions ==

=== Solo exhibitions ===

* 2019 ''Laredo'', V1 Gallery V <ref name=":2" /> * 2017 ''Monica Kim Garza: Jangalang,'' New Image Art, West Hollywood<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wsimag.com/art/24771-monica-kim-garza|title=Monica Kim Garza|date=2017-04-07|website=Wall Street International|language=en|access-date=2019-05-29}}</ref>

=== Group shows ===

* 2019 ** ''One Thousand and One Nights'', Artual Gallery, Beirut<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thearabweekly.com/us-artists-reinterpret-arabias-1001-nights-beirut-exhibition|title=US artists reinterpret Arabia's '1001 nights' in Beirut exhibition|website=The Arab Weekly|language=en|access-date=2019-05-29}}</ref> * '''2018''' **''MINE II'', V1 Gallery, Copenhagen V ** ''Drawing Room'', Over the Influence, Hong Kong <ref name=":2" /> ** ''<nowiki/>'EXTRA'', The Hole, New York <ref name=":2" /> **''<nowiki/>The Beyond: Georgia O'Keeffe and Contemporary Art'', North Carolina Museum of Art, North Carolina<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ncartmuseum.org/blog/view/georgia_okeeffe_and_the_beyond|title=Georgia O'Keeffe and the Beyond|last=Applebaum|first=Lauren|date=October 9, 2018|website=NC Art Museum}}</ref> * '''2017''' ** ''Mine- Art,'' ''signed books, exhibition catalogues, artist books, collectibles, editions, posters, rarities, prints, and free stuff,'' V1 Gallery, Copenhagen V ** ''Nude- Group exhibition,'' v1 Gallery, Copenhagen V <ref name=":2" /> * '''2016''' ** ''Character,'' V1 Gallery, Copenhagen V <ref name=":2" /> ** ''LIFEFORCE'', The Untitled Space, New York <ref name=":2" />

== Collections == Garza's work has been held at Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, Arkansas,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.juxtapoz.com/news/magazine/features/vetting-a-vibe-monica-kim-garza/|title=Juxtapoz Magazine - Vetting a Vibe: Monica Kim Garza|last=Benson|first=Eben|website=www.juxtapoz.com|language=en-gb|access-date=2019-04-28}}</ref> V1 Gallery in Copenhagen V,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://v1gallery.com/newspost/studio-view-5-monica-kim-garza/|title=STUDIO VIEW 5: MONICA KIM GARZA|website=V1 Gallery|access-date=2019-05-29}}</ref> and New Image Art Gallery in West Hollywood, CA.

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links ==

* Monica Garza on ''Nalgas and Kimchi [https://www.vibe.com/2016/06/mexican-korean-artist-monica-kim-garza-nude-paintings]'' * Monica Garza on ''Bese [https://www.bese.com/the-art-of-living-for-yourself-monica-garzas-paints-autonomous-self-assured-women/]'' * Monica Kim Garza: ''On Coming Home [https://storyform.co/@wavymag/monica-kim-garza-on-coming-home-da4c553c599c]'' * Monica Garza in ''Think Tank Gallery & Showroom [https://thinktank.gallery/abovetherim]'' * Monica Garza in ''Paper Darts'' [http://www.paperdarts.org/blog/2017/12/15/mg3ga4ui8wba87u15x2n60wp9lsq7b]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garza, Monica}} Category:1988 births Category:California College of the Arts alumni Category:21st-century American artists Category:American artists of Mexican descent Category:American artists of Korean descent Category:Living people