From the Artist
My background as an artist is very involved with drawing, comics, and public communication through visual art. For this workshop, I took as a departure point the concept of the poster, both political and product advertisement. However, here it is not clear which political view is being put forth nor which product is being advertised. Rather, the visuals and the text create a proposition to which the viewer is being asked to find meaning through interpretation. 4% Off/96% On makes reference to the invisible side of those "x% off" sale signs one sees literally everywhere. Here, and taking into account the notion that the whole is made out of 100%, the viewer is reminded that if 4% is off, than 96% is still on. The hurt figure depicted seems to talk about the inadequacy of this % language when applied to human phenomena. The arrows and circles illustrate sort of a failed attempt at getting it right.
—From Brandywine Workshop and Archives records
Portuguese muralist, painter, and political artist Ricardo Gouveia was born on the island of Madeira. He earned a BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and an MFA from Stanford University, CA. He lives and works in San Francisco.
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