Gustavo Ramos Rivera

Gustavo Ramos Rivera is an abstract painter working in San Francisco whose work is celebrated nationally for its intense emotional content and its unique, personal symbology. Rivera’s paintings combine the palette and iconography of the indigenous cultural heritage of his native Mexico with classic techniques of Post War American Abstraction.

In his paintings Rivera constructs layers of intense translucent color fields upon which he lays simple hieroglyphic markings of rich impasto which seem at once archaic and contemporary. They articulate a poetic narrative but also express the artist’s pure delight in working the medium of oil paint.

In addition to his painting Rivera is also a master printmaker who works in monotypes, intaglio and lithography. He has also produced unique and limited edition artist books illustrated with original art.

Born in Ciudad Acuna, Mexico in 1940 Rivera has lived and worked in San Francisco since 1976. He is the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships and in 2006 the San Jose Museum of Art presented a retrospective exhibition of the artist’s work that traveled to additional venues in Mexico and California.
 

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Exhibitions & Collections
 

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2011 

New Work, Elins Eagles-Smith Gallery, San Francisco, Ca.

2010 

Hamamjian Modern, Santa Cruz, Ca.

2009    

Paintings and Works on Paper,
Elins Eagles Smith Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Art Basel, Miami, Fl.

2008    

Gustavo Ramos Rivera: The Colors of Invention
/Los colores de la invención, Iowa State University, Ames, IA
Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR

2007

Gustavo Rivera: Monotypes, Smith Andersen Editions, Palo Alto, CA
Gustavo Ramos Rivera: La Tarde Que Se Inventa (The Afternoon Invents Itself), Fresno Art Museum, Fresno, CA
Gustavo Ramos Rivera: Eternidades del Instante, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
Rio de Historias / River of Stories: Drawings, Prints and Artists' Books, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA

2005

Gustavo Ramos Rivera: The Poetics of Painting,
Hackett-Freedman Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Ex Convento del Carmen, Guadalajara, Mexico
Travel to: Museo de Arte Abstracto Manuel Felguerez, Zacatecas, Mexico

2004

Amor Loco/Crazy Love, Plaza Gallery,
555 California Street, San Francisco, CA
Galerie Dionisi, West Hollywood, CA

2003

Gustavo Ramos Rivera: New Works On Paper,
Aurobora Press, San Francisco, CA

2002

Smith Andersen Editions, Palo Alto, CA (also ‘98, ‘90)

1999

John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA

1996

John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Galerie Rahn, Zurich, Switzerland

1994

Wilfred Von Guten Galerie, Thun, Switzerland
Campbell Thiebaud Gallery, San Francisco, CA

1993

Michael Dunev Gallery, San Francisco, CA
M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, CA

1991

Sherry Frumkin Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
Margulies Taplin Gallery, Miami, FL

1988

San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA
Graystone Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Alternative Museum, New York, NY

1986

Arte Actual Mexicano, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico

1981

Triangle Gallery, San Francisco, CA

1980

Galeria Miro, Monterey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico

1979

George Belcher Gallery, San Francisco, CA

1976

The Mexican Museum, San Francisco, CA

1974

Zara Gallery, San Francisco, CA

1970

Galeria de la Raza, San Francisco, CA

1968

Centro Regional de Iniciacion Artistica, Coahuila, Mexico
Centro Regional de Iniciación Artistica, Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico

Selected Group Exhibitions

2008

The Question is Known: (W)here is Latin American/Latino Art?,
Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, SanFrancisco, CA

2007

ARCO-Feria de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Drawing: Visions, Surfaces, and Beyond,
Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, CA

2005

Trillium Press, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Latin Spirit, San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Looking Back and Seeing Forward: A 90th Anniversary Exhibition,
Charles Campbell Gallery, San Francisco,CA

2004–05

Intaglio Editions from Made in California Press,
Dolby Chadwick Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Poetry and its Arts: Bay Area Interactions 1954-2004,
California Historical Society, San Francisco, CA

2004
Monotype Marathon 2004, San Jose Institute for Contemporary Art,
San Jose, CA
Select Works-A Changing Exhibition, Hackett–Freedman Gallery,
San Francisco, CA
Made in California: Intaglio Editions, B. Sakata Garo Gallery,
Sacramento, CA
Sand in the Sunblock, Aurobora Press, San Francisco, CA

2003

Global Elegies: Art and Ofrendas for the Dead,
The Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, CA
Selections from Smith Andersen Editions,
Cabrillo College Gallery, Aptos, CA

2001

'Tis the Reason', Michael Martin Galleries, San Francisco, CA

2000

Smith Andersen Gallery, Palo Alto, CA

1998

The Art of Collaborative Printmaking: Smith Andersen Editions,
Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV
De Saisset Museum, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA

1993

12 Bay Area Painters: Eureka Fellowship Winners, San Jose Museum
of Art, San Jose, CA
Galerie Rahn, Zurich, Switzerland

1992

Absence of Proof, Somar Gallery Space, World Print,
San Francisco, CA

1991

Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Santiago, Chile
The Painted Monotype, Joan Prats Gallery, New York, NY
Iturralde Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

1990

Mind and Matter: New American Abstraction,
Traveling exhibition to Asia, organized by World Print, San Francisco, CA

1989

Virginia Miller Gallery, Coral Gables, FL

1988

Mano a Mano, Santa Cruz Museum of Art, Santa Cruz, CA,
and The Oakland Museum of Art, Oakland, CA

1986

Art After Eden: An Unnatural Perspective, Southern Exposure Gallery,
San Francisco, CA
Alas y Raices, Galeria de la Raza, San Francisco, CA

1985

Latin American Painting Today, The Mexican Museum, San Francisco, CA
Meridian: Art of the Americas, San Francisco Art Commission Gallery,
San Francisco, CA
Mexico: The New Generation, San Antonio Museum of Art,
San Antonio, TX

1984

11 Artistas Mexicanos, Galeria de Arte Mexicano, Mexico City,
What’s Happening: Contemporary Art from California, Oregon, and Washington States, Alternative Museum, New York, NY

1980

Puerto Rico Graphics Biennale, San Juan, Puerto Rico
World Print Three, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art,
San Francisco, CA
Gestural Abstraction, Palo Alto Cultural Center, Palo Alto, CA

1978

Graffiti, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA

1977

Seventeen Mexican American Artists,
Traveling exhibition to U.S. Museums

1976

20 Bay Area Artists, Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA
Casa de la Cultura Jalicience, Gudalajara, Mexico

1974

Mix, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
College of Marin, Kentfield, CA

Collections

Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
De Saisset Museum, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA
Haggerty Museum of Art, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI
The Mexican Museum, San Francisco, CA
Moscone Convention Center, San Francisco, CA
Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV
Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ
San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, CA
San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
Sky Harbor Airport, Phoenix, AZ
Stanford University Hospitals, Palo Alto, CA
Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries, Palo Alto, CA
Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, CA