Madrid based artist, Benjamin Garcia paints portraits of people with fractured faces. These portraits can depict anyone from everyday people, to public figures and even fictional characters. Each side of the fracture shows different facial expressions, conveying different emotions, moods and even personalities. They symbolize people’s capacity to lead complex lives, to show one side in one situation and reveal a completely different side in another.
When it comes to Garcia’s portraits of marginalized identities: queer people, people of colour and women, these portraits ask audiences to view them as fellow human beings, with complex lives just like their own. They ask audiences to look beyond stereotypes peddled by different parties, all so that they can lead equitable everyday lives. This is why the fractured faces portraits by Benjamin Garcia is relevant to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of Reduced Inequalities.
The continued representation of minorities and marginalized peoples have long been known to glean positive effects. Among others, they have helped people to foster understanding and tolerance, solve stereotyping and discriminatory behaviour and shape how under-represented people think about their identity—shifting their perception to a more positive note. Yet, in today’s world where the representation of different groups of people is already part of global media discourse, scholars, critics and audiences alike must continue to critique these depictions.
This is because oftentimes it is not enough to simply have these identities represented, but they must be represented in a just and complex manner in order to avoid further stereotyping. This is one of the key points that Garcia’s paintings propose, they call for people to formulate their own complex perceptions of the depicted characters. They ask audiences to confront their own biases and understand that a person’s race, sexuality, religious or other background are not testaments of their character and capacity to do good.
Benjamin Garcia’s fractured portraits invites viewers to move beyond superficial stereotypes and see marginalized identities—queer individuals, people of color and women—as complex, multifaceted people. His use of fractured faces, each side revealing different emotions and sides of personality, emphasizes the inner lives and human complexity often obscured by society’s limiting perceptions. Garcia’s work challenges audiences to examine and dismantle their biases, advocating for deeper empathy and understanding. At the end of the day, these portraits call for more nuanced, respectful representation of all people.
Find out more about fractured portraits and other pieces by Benjamin Garcia on his website www.beng-art.com or Instagram @benjamingarciaart.