Gustavo Rivera (born 1940) is an artist from San Francisco. He’s an abstract painter whose work is recognized for its highly individualized iconography and its visual and emotional intensity. He uses a highly personal symbology and brilliant colors to create a unique language that is written throughout his collages, monotypes, and paintings. This singular expression functions on both an emotional and intellectual level and its deployment is reminiscent of the work of Cy Twombly, Joan Miró, and Paul Klee. It also harkens back to the architecture of Mexico and of the pre-Columbian Mesoamerican art. His work follows the 20th-century thread of Mexican painting from Francisco Toledo to Rufino Tamayo, melding this tradition with that represented by abstract painters from San Francisco Bay Area such as Richard Diebenkorn, Manuel Neri, and Frank Lobdell. His art can be found in many collections including Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, De Saisset Museum, Santa Clara University, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, The Mexican Museum, San Francisco, Haggerty Museum of Art, Marquette University, among others.
The intense colors floating on his canvases reference his cultural past yet remain grounded in his present day environment. His paintings combine classic techniques of Post War American Abstraction with iconography and the palette of the indigenous cultural heritage of Mexico. His paintings articulate a poetic narrative and express his pure delight in working the medium of oil paint. His art is in great demand. That explains why they are found in many prestigious collections all over the world.
