France Garrido was born in New York City, NY, of 1st generation Spanish & Italian parents, and was steeped in both cultures. Ms. Garrido exhibited an interest in the arts at a very young age and began studying ballet at 5 and modern dance into adulthood.
At the age of 7 her family moved from an urban setting, NYC, NY, to a rural one, NJ. Here is where her love of nature was sparked; she was allowed to wander freely and explore the magic of the forest and all that presents itself in nature.
As a young girl she visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, where she witnessed Dali’s ‘The Crucifixion’. This painting had a profound affect on her. She was transfixed; standing in front of this painting, as everything around her disappeared, cemented in her a desire to be an artist!
She attended Ramapo College, the Art Students League and, independently, studied the figure, here she developed from associating with more seasoned artists, included in that group was John Gaydos.
In 1983 she received a grant to study the Mexican Mural Masterpieces in Mexico City, Cuernavaca and Taxco, which had a great influence on her art making. It was here that she was introduced, first hand, to the works of Siqueiros, Kahlo, Rivera, O’Gorman, Camerena et al.
Simultaneously she began her deep exploration into collage, which grew into a lifelong passion. In 2000, she co-founded the Collage/Assemblage Society, NYC and became Master Collagist, Jonathan Talbot’s, studio assistant. She has consistently developed her own unique style of mixed media/collage, utilizing appropriated, self-generated and manipulated images as well as a host of other elements. Ms. Garrido is best known for her highly detailed and intricate collage/mixed media works that exemplify the Surrealist & Visionary genre.
Her work has been exhibited at the UN Conference on Women, Beijing, China, The Museum of Fantastic Art, Wein/Vienna, Murphy Hill Gallery, Chicago, IL, The Noyes Museum, Oceanville, NJ, ‘Visionaries’, QCC Art Gallery, NY. She was included in ‘Lexikon der Phantastischen Künstler*’, a compilation of International Artists from 60 countries. Fantastic, Surreal, Visionary, & Symbolic, Author/Curator Gerhard Habarta & in the Visionary Art Yearbook 2010-2011, Author Otto Rapp, Vienna.
Currently her work is included in a traveling exhibition ‘Surrealism Now’, Lousa & Aveiro, Portugal/Paris, Fr/LA, CA. In the fall of 2015 her work will be exhibited at Braithwaite Gallery, Southern Utah University Museum of Art, Cedar City, UT, & Eco Museum, Montreal, Canada.