Elias J Rivera lives with his wife, Susan Contreras, in the Apache Ridge outside Santa Fe. Classically trained and using large canvases, he portrays Guatemalan people.

Rivera was born in New York City. In 1982, he moved to Santa Fe. In his paintings, he explores the colorful costumes and street life of the native populations of Santa Fe, New Mexico; Guatemala; Mexico and Peru.

He has done a New Mexico series of paintings entitled "Under the Portal," and also a Guatemala Series. Over the years, his generosity has supported many Santa Fe non-profits through the donation of dozens of paintings. In 2004, Rivera received the Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts, and in 2005 he was named the Artist of the Year by the Santa Fe Rotary Foundation.

Rivera's works have been exhibited at the New Mexico Museum of Art, the National Hispanic Cultural Center, the Albuquerque Museum, the American Academy and Institute for Arts and Letters, the Nevada Institute of Contemporary Art, the Center for Contemporary Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the National Academy, the Northrup Gallery and the University of Minnesota.



SOURCE: 2009 City of Santa Fe Mayor's Award

Elias Rivera
Selected Biography

1937
Born, Bronx, New York
1953-54
Enrolls in School of Industrial Arts in Manhattan
1955-61
Attends Art Students League under instruction of Frank Mason
1965
First gallery exhibition, Lincoln Institute in New York
1970
First one person exhibition, Harbor Gallery in Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island
1972
Completes first commissioned mural for Banco de Ponce in Rockefeller Center
Receives Best Painter Award from De Puerto Rico Institute in New York
Completes a series of paintings for PBS portraying the Attica riots
1973
Included in National Academy group exhibition, New York. Wins the Henry W. Ranger Purchase Prize
1978
Awarded the Hassam and Speicher Fund Purchase Prize from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letter, New York, for the painting Waiting, which was presented by the Academy to the Georgia Museum of Art, Athens.
1981
Exhibits work in a group show, Crimes of Compassion, at the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk, Virginia
1983
Begins series entitled Under the Portal, depicting Native American subjects selling their wares under the Portal of the Palace of the Governors on the Santa Fe Plaza
1983-87
Travels to Oaxaca, Mexico and surrounding villages. This trip becomes the inspiration for his signature works of peoples of Mexico and Central America.
1988
Commissioned to create a painting for the Albuquerque International Sunport.
1991
Commissioned to create a painting for the Capitol Art collection, Santa Fe, New Mexico, which remains on permanent display in the New Mexico State Capitol building
1993
Travels to Antigua, Guatemala. The vivid colors and costumes and the charismatic people of Guatemala become his preferred subject matter.
1995
One-person exhibition, Visions of Solola, held at Riva Yares Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico and Scottsdale, Arizona.
1999
Visits Peru with stops in Lima, Pisac, Cusco and Machu Picchu.
2001
Visits Paris, Belgium and Holland and has the opportunity to study Old Master paintings he has always loved
2002
Travels to Verona, Italy, where he is included in the exhibition Artists of the Ideal: Nuovo Classicismo at the Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea.
2003
Invited by the University of Oklahoma to be a Distinguished visiting Artist. The Oklahoma City Museum of Art organizes a one person exhibition, The Other Side of the Street.
2004
Receives Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts, New Mexico.
2005
The Rotary Foundation, Santa Fe, names him the Artist of the Year
The documentary film Elias Rivera: Through the Eyes of a Master premieres at the Santa Fe Film Festival
2006
Holds three one-person shows, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe; the National Hispanic Cultural Center of New Mexico, Albuquerque; and Riva Yares Gallery, Santa Fe


Public Collections
Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico
The Capitol Art Collection, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Albuquerque International Sunport, New Mexico
Georgia Museum of Art, Athens
Northland College, Ashland, Wisconsin