About « Hugo Rivera

About

Biography

Hugo Rivera is a civil engineer graduated from Guadalajara, Mexico at Iteso . After relocating to the US it was very quick that Hugo returned to his passion of fine art. Painting and drawing was something he did ever since he could remember.

Hugo Rivera is the world’s first post-modern frescoist. Mr. Rivera has been well-schooled in classical art and techniques. Although he gained prominence as interpretive modern artist, he realized that much of the modern art world was banal and had lost sight of painting’s roots in the classical arts. In his move to post-modernism, he sought to bring classical techniques to the altar with modern interpretations. Thus was born the art style of post-modern fresco. This technique, which was so wildly popular in Renaissance Italy, brings a stunning marriage of the old and the new.

Hugo has many paintings under his belt in acrylic, oil, and his most recent work frescos (lime plaster).

Art Statement

My art work is a fusion of the abstract world and the traditional methods in art instruction of the human figure where my ideas, emotions, and visual sensations are communicated solely through lines, shapes, colors, and textures that latter will create in my imagination figures that I will pull out from the canvas and make them more visible. In my compositions I have most of the time the female figure because I find it full of emotions and rhythm.

Media Used

Organic lime plaster is made with river lime stones, marble as an aggregate, and water. Lime plaster finishes naturally absorbs carbon dioxide from the air causing the plaster to return to its natural rock state over time creating beautiful frescos traditionally used by Michael Angelo and Diego Rivera.

I create the frescos on wood panels. I combine different colors of lime plaster and by using different spatula sizes, at the same time as I’m drawing, I apply endless coats with dramatic movement achieving and revealing more depth and texture. The look of lime plaster is natural. Its finishes have an iridescence, and translucency that make the finishes look richer.

Since I’m always into having a textured surface, when painting with acrylics, I use very dense paint, almost like lime plaster to create a thick and full texture. I apply the paint with a large flat brush made especially for acrylics; I use the small brushes only for detailed areas.

Painting with acrylics is very similar to painting with lime stone. In both I use a thick paste and my end product is a textured piece of art.