In his recent works, Rick Fitzgerald uses sci-fi imagery, pop culture, and dark humor to interrogate human arrogance, belief systems, and our uneasy place in the universe.
Rick Fitzgerald is a contemporary painter whose work uses sci-fi imagery, satire, and pop culture to question belief, ego, and humanity’s place in the universe.
Earth Was A Mistake, iWuz Framed, and Repainting the Mothership blend pulp aesthetics with philosophical provocation, flipping familiar narratives, aliens, religion, knowledge, and invasion, into sharp social mirrors. Fitzgerald’s paintings feel playful at first glance, but beneath the bright colors and absurd scenarios lies a persistent question: what if humanity isn’t the hero of its own story?
Earth Was A Mistake, Rick Fitzgerald, 2025, spray paint and acrylic on canvas, 14 x 18 in. / 35.56 x 45.72 cm.
In Earth Was A Mistake, a stark UFO silhouette hovers above a fluorescent yellow sky, casting judgment over a darkened treeline. The blunt text reads like a cosmic punchline, reframing the classic sci-fi question of alien belief into existential critique. Inspired by Fox Mulder’s iconic “I Want to Believe” poster, Fitzgerald reverses optimism into skepticism. The high-contrast palette and graphic simplicity echo protest signage, transforming speculative fiction into cultural commentary. The hovering craft becomes less an invader and more a silent observer, suggesting that humanity’s flaws may be self-evident from afar.
iWuz Framed, Rick Fitzgerald, 2025, acrylic on lenticular print, 9 x 7 in. / 22.86 x 17.78 cm.
iWuz Framed takes aim at ego, censorship, and humanity’s fear of knowledge. A vulnerable, almost sympathetic Satan appears engulfed in flames, reframing the biblical myth of Adam and Eve through irony and empathy. Executed on a lenticular print and framed like a collectible artifact, the work mocks humanity’s impulse to box ideas into moral absolutes. The shimmering surface reinforces instability, truth shifts depending on perspective. Fitzgerald positions curiosity as the real casualty, calling out the absurdity of fearing knowledge rather than embracing it.
Repainting the Mothership, Rick Fitzgerald, 2025, acrylic on canvas, 20 x 16 in. / 50.8 x 40.64 cm.
What began as a discarded yard-sale painting becomes something sinister in Repainting the Mothership. A spider-plant-like alien entity drains humans through tentacle forms, repurposing their essence as fuel, or paint, for the mothership. The loose, expressive brushwork contrasts with the disturbing narrative, blurring humor and horror. The image reads as both sci-fi nightmare and social allegory, hinting at systems that extract value from people while disguising exploitation as progress. Fitzgerald’s transformation of a “throwaway” image mirrors the work’s theme: nothing is neutral once examined closely.
Across these works, Rick Fitzgerald uses sci-fi not as escapism but as confrontation. Aliens, devils, and motherships become tools to question certainty, authority, and humanity’s inflated self-image. By embracing satire and pulp aesthetics, Fitzgerald lowers the barrier to entry, then delivers the existential gut punch. The result is a body of work that laughs first, then lingers uncomfortably, asking whether we deserve the myths we’ve built around ourselves.