About
Biografía
José Tomás Rivas Palma, artista visual. Nació en Santiago, Chile, el 02 de Mayo de 1975.
En el año 1994 obtuvo su Licenciatura en Artes, en la Universidad Católica, Santiago, Chile. Además en 1997, realizó Estudios de Italiano, en el Centro degli Studi Italiani, en la Universita di Genova, Italia. Y el mismo año participó en un Curso de Litografía y Grabado, en el Taller de Gráfica Experimental, en La Habana, Cuba. El año 2001 realizó un Postítulo en Arte, Mención en Técnicas y Propuestas Contemporáneas en la Universidad Católica de Chile. Y entre los años 2002 y 2005, realizó un Master of Fine Arts, en la Universidad de Notre Dame, Estados Unidos.
Entre los años 2002 y 2004 trabajó como Preparador, Asistente de Montaje e Instructor Guía en el Snite Museum of Art, Notre Dame, Indiana, Estados Unidos. Entre los años 2002 y 2005 fue Profesor Instructor y Asistente, Area de Escultura, Escuela de Arte, Diseño e Historia del Arte, en la Universidad de Notre Dame, Estados Unidos.
Entre el 2004 y el 2005 realizó un Internship in the Museum Profession, Academic Year Intern, Práctica Profesional y Programa Académico, Departmento de Programas Académicos, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC., Estados Unidos.
A partir del 2010 es Profesor de la Escuela de Arte de la Pontificia Universidad Católica, Santiago de Chile y funda, junta a otros cuatro artistas chilenos en proyecto de formación artística Taller BLOC/Tutorías de Arte.
STATEMENT
Rivas’s work explores genealogical tensions between two and three dimensional systems, fluctuating between drawing, sculpture and architecture. Playing with linear perspective, ornamentation, and unorthodox materials, Rivas investigates how the viewer’s cultural expectations frame their perception. His installations are based on a process of carving, hollowing out and exposing the exterior layers of plaster or wallpaper covered walls. His research into the complexities of space have taken him to–quite literally–dig up historical foundations of monument and ornament as expanded architectural forms. His references to antiquity are playful ruminations on the sources of Western architecture, asking us to consider how those roots are appropriated and recontextualized throughout cultural history. He attempts to expose the cultural charge embodied in certain forms and styles, and the power they radiate. The potency of Rivas’s work is embedded in the contrast between ornamental forms identified with elitist, Western ideals of beauty and the unconventional treatment of “low” and perishable materials such as thread, plaster boards, paper, plastic and lard.
Tomás Rivas (b. 1975, Santiago de Chile) one of the founders of Taller Bloc in Santiago Chile, earned a BFA and a post-baccalaureate degree from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. As an undergraduate, he received a Università degli Studi di Genova Scholarship to pursue Italian studies; while in Italy, he worked in Milan as a printmaking apprentice. He later attended the University of Notre Dame where he completed his MFA in sculpture. In 2012 Rivas had a Visiting Assistant Professor appointment at the University of Notre Dame. Currently he teaches at Universidad Católica de Chile in Santiago. His work has been exhibited at Museo de Artes Visuales (Chile), Margaret Lawrence Gallery (Australia), Saatchi Gallery (UK), Espace Culturel Louis Vuitton (France) and the Museum of Art and Design (US) among many others.
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