Patrick Macgrath Muñiz

PATRICK MACGRATH MUÑÍZ

Patrick McGrath Muñíz is an artist with a Roman Catholic background who grew up during the 1980’s and 90’s in Puerto Rico, the oldest colony in the Western Hemisphere. His work responds to our capitalist society and consumerism with its indifference to the rising threat of climate change by tracing its origins to the time of Columbus. Adopting Renaissance-painting techniques on canvas and retablos reminiscent of Spanish colonial art enables Muñíz to emulate earlier indoctrination strategies and devices from the time of the conquest of the Americas. This in turn provides historical continuity between the Colonial and the Neo-colonial narratives present in the Anthropocene, an epoch defined by the enormous impact of human activities on the Earth’s ecosystems.

Through satirical narratives and anachronisms present in his art, he explores, understands and questions the Imperialist agenda with its colonial roots, and the ruling Corpocracy with its Neo-colonial ramifications and environmental consequences in our time.