Rupert García

[8] During his study in San Francisco State College, he joined the anti-war movement and participated in the 1968 student strike organized by the Third World Liberation Front.

[6] Through joining this movement, García also gained experience in printmaking, and began to incorporate it into his practice of pop and activist art.

[9][10] During his study in San Francisco State College, he joined the anti-war movement and participated in the 1968 student strike organized by the Third World Liberation Front.

[11] In 1968, he decided to stop painting and made political posters condemning violence against Latinos, blacks and other minorities in the United States.

In the work, García is calling for freedom of political prisoners, as is stated in the text displayed in all caps at the top of the composition.

[11] In 1970, Galería de la Raza was founded by artists including García, Chuy Campusano, Ralph Maradiaga, Peter Rodríguez, René Yañez, Francisco X. Camplís, Gustavo Ramos Rivera, Carlos Loarca, Manuel Villamor, Robert Gonzales, Luis Cervantes, and Rolando Castellón.

Printing with an inkjet, a fairly new process of printmaking at the time of the works creation, is removed from artist interaction, and requires no impact, but rather a spray of pigment onto paper by the machine.

[1] The work is in a triptych format, with the leftmost of the three panels being an image of Barack Obama in a slightly abstracted, print graphic style.

García's original idea for the work was to be a sole portrait of Barack Obama, and only later chose to incorporate Frederick Douglas and the print trimming mat in the final product.

One advantage to digital printing is it is a much quicker process, and the specific stencils do not have to be hand designed and cut, and allows for a more intense and sometimes detailed composition.

The transition to digital mediums expanded García's ability to express activist thoughts and incorporate detail and richness of color.