Allegory of Triumph / Angel with a Black Lives Protestor by Ricardo Osmondo Francis

Allegory of Triumph / Angel with a Black Lives Protestor by Ricardo Osmondo Francis, 2021, Acrylic and mixed media collage on canvas, 60 x 53 inches

“Allegory of Triumph / Angel with a Black Lives Matter Protester” was created during the height of international Black Lives Matter rallies post George Floyd’s untimely death and is also meant to honor all victims of police brutality here in the US. The painting itself depicts a white man wearing a Black Lives Matter sweater while carrying a Black female angel on his back. The intention of the painting could also be seen as a “spiritual coat of arms”. All in all humankind’s need for racial harmony and unity in our current day and time is needed to overcome the many centuries of political turmoil and despair colonization has caused to us all.

Ricardo Osmondo Francis was born September 8, 1976, in Houston, Texas. He attended the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, MD, and received a BFA in 1998, in painting. Inspired by Classical art, multi-ethnic antiquity, and present-day advertisement imagery, Francis’ vivid pictorial works present a torrent of imagery culled from every possible corner of the visual culture. His lush elaborately graphic surrealistic paintings and drawings often depict the social constructs of humanity and the complexity of our existence through conceptually layered portraiture, still life, and abstract compositions. Since 1992, he has created a wide variety of community-based, innovative multimedia projects and exhibitions such as The New Museum (1994), Public Opinion (1996), and All Sizes/Real People (1997). In 2000 Francis developed his own visual arts company, called Apanamae Productions, and produced solo exhibits like Exhibit A (2002) and New sKIN (2003). Currently, he is the Gallery Director of Leonides Arts NY. From 2011 to 2014, Francis served as Curator in Residence for both the 32 Jones Gallery at the Hudson Pride Connections Center in Jersey City, NJ and the Brooklyn Community Pride Center in Brooklyn, NY. Francis was also a contributing curator for the annual multidisciplinary LGBTQ event EVERYBOOTY at BAM. Recent solo exhibitions include TURN OF THE CENTURY (2014), MYTHIC / POETIC (2016-2018), RE:VIEW (2018), and TO BE CONTINUED(2020).