Richmond Garrick is an awarded winning artist from Sierra Leone . Alongside his ingenious expertise , he has been an educator for 20 years , and an adjunct professor for 12 years , teaching both in Sierra Leone and the United States .
Richmond received his Higher Teachers Certificate from Milton Margai Teachers College in Sierra Leone and taught Art at St . Josephs Secondary School and the Annie Walsh Memorial School for eight years before leaving for the United States . Prior to his departure from Sierra Leone in 1991 , he mounted one of the largest art exhibits that was graced by top dignitaries from the various embassies in Sierra Leone . The exhibit was formally opened by tenured American Ambassador Johnny Young .
When Richmond arrived in the United States his paintings were exhibited at the Sierra Leone
Embassy in Washington , DC under the Ambassador , Dr . Kargbo . While in the States , he pursued further studies in fine arts , computer graphics and multimedia receiving a Master of Fine Arts from Rutgers ’ s Mason Gross School of the Arts , a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Montclair States University and an Associate Degree in Advertising Graphics from Middlesex County College . Presently , he is an adjunct professor and also teaches graphic design at Williamstown High School in New Jersey .
Richmond Garrick works in all media . Some of his paintings are a testimony of aggression and conflict . He draws on personal history for subject matter , which tends to be emotional , psychological and sociological . Richmond is often revered as a social realist , even though he believes his painting style borders on realism and expressionism . Some of his paintings reflect the atrocities the innocent civilians endured during the ten years civil conflict in Sierra Leone . He considered them to be “ Expression of Oppression , A Metaphor for the Unthinkable “ Those paintings help to sensitize art lovers to the brutality and sadistic mutilations and killings of his people . They were very powerful testimonies painted on large-scale canvases with thick paint and didactic brush strokes that convey strong emotions .
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