Manuel Rivera is an artist that I caught a glimpse of for one hour in a foreign land and was only able to bring back a catalog filled with images accompanied by words in a language I do not speak. I stumbled upon his work at the Museo Reina Sophia in 2000 where there were only a handful of his works on display. I immediately responded to his use of materials; simple wire screen, canvas and paint and the way he created dimensional architectural constructions.

I wish I knew more about his work, which in some instances looks like mountain ranges, in others like tent structures or strange architectures. Some more calm pieces seem to be Mark Rothko like meditations. In all of the work there is a play of shadow and light and a literal depth of field. From what I can tell, he rarely completely abandons the canvas of the painting  but many of these works seem to be studies for much more massive constructions.

There is an official website in Spanish: Manuel Rivera Official Website which has on display an extensive catalog of his work. (I would gladly accept any background material on this artist if you might have any morsels. I can only get so much through Google translate.)

all images from www.manuelrivera.net