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Ricardo Osmondo Francis was born September 8, 1976, in Houston, Texas. He attended the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, MD, and received a BFA in 1998, in painting.

Inspired by Classical art, multi-ethnic antiquity, and present day advertisement imagery, Francis’ vivid pictorial works present a torrent of imagery culled from every possible corner of the visual culture. His lush elaborately graphic surrealistic paintings and drawings often depict the social constructs of humanity and the complexity of our existence through conceptually layered portraiture, still life, and abstract compositions.

Since 1992, he has created a wide variety of community based, innovative multi-media projects and exhibitions such as The New Museum (1994), Public Opinion (1996), and All Sizes/Real People (1997). In 2000 Francis developed his own visual arts company, called Apanamae Productions and produced solo exhibits like Exhibit A (2002) and New sKIN (2003). Currently he is the Gallery Director of Leonides Arts NY. From 2011 to 2014, Francis served as Curator in Residence for both the 32 Jones Gallery at the Hudson Pride Connections Center in Jersey City, NJ, and the Brooklyn Community Pride Center in Brooklyn, NY. Francis was also a contributing curator for the annual multidisciplinary LGBTQ event EVERYBOOTY at BAM. Recent solo exhibitions include TURN OF THE CENTURY (2014), MYTHIC / POETIC (2016-2018), RE:VIEW (2018), and TO BE CONTINUED(2020).

Awards include a Level 1 Scholarship in Painting from both Musicfest and the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts, as well as the Presidential Scholarship in the Arts on behalf of the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars. His work is in various private and corporate art collections internationally, and has been featured in publications such as Vibe and Swerv magazines, and Callaloo: A Literary Journal of African Diaspora Arts and Letters.