The Next Generation - Greg Rick

History in the Raw

It does not take too many words to get in touch with the work of Greg Rick. Immediately upon looking, recognizable figures abound and displaced bits of a known history emerge from scrambled fields. Oakland artist Greg Rick leaves dramatic and hazardous entanglements completely bare. History and culture intertwine in the raw in Rick’s imagination where everything is obvious yet nothing is clear. While we can approach these works with familiarity, we cannot leave without questions and uncertainty. Perhaps that is the true core of Greg Rick’s practice, to show us that no matter how much we know and recognize, nothing is ever certain and history may not be as set in stone as we may think.

Part One: Who is Greg Rick?

Question #1: Who is Greg Rick?

“I’m a survivor, a learner and a reflector. Born in Minneapolis I gravitating toward drawing early and even more so when my father went to prison. I found it easier to create worlds in my mind and on paper then to deal with what was happening in my early life. Many of my friends have died now, I ask myself why am I here. I’ve been to war, on drugs, have been resuscitated many times. I believe I am here to create this has been the one thing that has been consistent and joyful.”

Question #2: Who are you as an artist?

A teller of stories

Question #3: In terms of your artistic journey, why are you here and where are you going?

I have always had a historical imagination and a love of stories. I want my art to spawn more questions then answers.

Question #4: What do you absolutely need your audience to know about you or your work?

It takes time to look

Question #5: What has the process of making art taught you or given you?

Life, meaning, understanding and purpose.

Question #7: What keeps you going?

Compulsion, love, cant stop have tried.

Part Two: Time Tangled

What is your artistic process?

Exorcism of myself, reflections and rejections of being a person in this time in this place

Race War, 2020, paint and collage on canvas, 60×65”

Port Chicago, 2020, paint collage on canvas, 80×65”
History of port Chicago, great migration, continuation of injustice, honoring the ancestors

Bury my Heart at 38th and Chicago, 2020, paint and collage on canvas,85×65”
Made after the execution of George Floyd, he was murdered blocks from where I grew up, I experienced the third precinct.

Black helicopters, 2020, ink on paper, 48×36”
Reflections on conspiracy and inter web

Where/ How can Vacant Museum viewers see more of your work and where can they purchase it?

Instagram: gregoryrick2017