Artist Ismael Rivera explores, particularly through the use of new and unusual surfaces, the magic of everyday life. His work seeks to merely hint at an image through the creation of atmospheres generated by candid strokes and vivid colors, encouraging the viewer to address, interpret, and complete the work by themselves.
In this exhibition, which includes his latest creations, the artist explores the theme of binary concepts, and how they reign the world and everyday life. He does so through the use of new surfaces, particularly miniature doors. Doors are polysemic elements. There is nothing more common than a door, for it is a mechanism with which we interact constantly. However, doors are also symbolic elements. They can be obstacles, for not all doors are always open, they are not always beckoning and friendly. There are some that even require a key of access in order to know what’s beyond them.
Ismael Rivera, then, provides us with this key of access through his painting. Through the use of color, the contrast between figuration and abstraction, the incorporation of text, or even a calligraphic gesture that seems to emulate written language, the artist exposes his perception of a simple and everyday world, revealing the wonderful aspects of it, and presenting the relevance he feels elements such as the viewer, the space where it exists, and its surroundings, have with his work.