Bob Rivera
Bob Rivera · Source: New York Artists Circle · Rights retained by the original rights holders
- Medium
- Acrylic Paint
- Practice
- Collage
Rivera's career as an artist began in the 70s in Philadelphia. Continuing through 1983 he collaborated with many arts organizations in and around that area to create site-specific sculptures, festival environments and in… Full biography
Biography
Rivera's career as an artist began in the 70s in Philadelphia. Continuing through 1983 he collaborated with many arts organizations in and around that area to create site-specific sculptures, festival environments and installations. His work was exhibited in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, West Chester State College, The Institute of Contemporary Art and several Philadelphia galleries.
Returning to New York City in 1982, he continued exhibiting and completing commissions for various public agencies and private collections in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut and New York. The scope of projects extends from a hanging indoor work to an exterior campus field seven-ton mural. The outdoor works are made of steel and aluminum and painted in a wide variety of expressive colors.
Rivera has regularly exhibited in group shows and has had solo exhibitions in New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, DC. Reviews have appeared in The New York Times and New York Daily News. He was an artist-in-residence at the Studio Museum in Harlem and was invited to participate in the 25th Anniversary Exhibition at El Museo del Barrio in New York City and the 30-year retrospective of the Painted Bride Art Center in Philadelphia. In 2025 Rivera was invited to participate in the Studio Museum's AIR Alumni Project honoring the legacy of their program as it constructs its new home.
A large and proud part of Rivera's artist career has been his experience as a teacher, lecturer and workshop instructor. The venues have included colleges, public schools, prisons, art and senior centers, and the curriculums have been taught bilingually as needed.
Artist statement
These recent and current works are paintings and collages using watercolors, acrylic paints and mixed media. My inspiration and imagination are fueled by the natural world, music, reading, current events and travels. I strive to create lively and colorful artworks that are expressions of ironies and contradictions which exist in life and nature. Through this process I try to maintain a simultaneous harmony and tension within the pieces using a combination of textures and materials.
