Rigo Peralta is a Dominican artist living in

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton and Lehigh Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, Bethlehem had a total population of 75,781. Of this, 55,639 were in Northampton County and 19, ...

, United States.

Early life

Mario Rigoberto Peralta was born in

San José de las Matas San José de las Matas, also known as Sajoma, is an important municipality (''municipio'') of the Santiago province in the Dominican Republic. The mayor of Sajoma is Alfredo Reyes. there has been many positive changes in the last four years such ...

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

. He studied at the National Academy of Fine Arts in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

, Dominican Republic. He emigrated to New York City in 1989 and studied at the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may stu ...

. From 2002–2003, he served as the art director of th
Casa de la Cultura Dominicana.

Currently

Peralta now lives in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and is a resident artist at the Banana Factory in the South Side of Bethlehem. He paints mainly in oil and is known for his surrealist pieces. His inspiration includes the growing automated nature of mankind, religion, sex, and his nationality. He was recently commissioned by the

Sands Casino The Sands Hotel and Casino was a historic American hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada, United States, that operated from 1952 to 1996. Designed by architect Wayne McAllister, with a prominent high sign, the Sands was the seventh ...

in Bethlehem to produce a series of paintings depicting both the community and the newly renovated

steel mill A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-finish ...

. His work has been the subject of solo exhibitions in 2005 at the Monsoon Gallery Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and the Maquinas Universal the North Light Loft Gallery Allentown Pennsylvania, in 2006 at Extreme at the Rio 2 Gallery. New York and in 2007 at the Baum School of Art. In 1996 he exhibited his work ''Spiritual Essence'' at the Boricua College, Gallery Graham Center,

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. He exhibited his work ''Mas Alla de Aqui'' or ''More There of Here'' in 1997 at the 97th Street Branch Library in New York. In 1999 he made had another professional exhibit with ''Witness of the Time'' which debuted at the Fort Washington Penthouse in New York. More recently, his exhibition, ''Transition'' debuted at the Ellarslie Museum in

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...

. He participated in the 1996 ''Faces of America's Lucent Technologies'' in Warren, New Jersey, and the 1999 ''Sintesis de un Lenguaje'' at the Pearl Gallery, New York.

Awards

2010 Lehigh –Art- Alliance 75th Annual Fall Juried Exhibition at Allentown Art Museum Air Products Foundation Award 2010 Arts Ovation award Outstanding Achievement in the Visual Arts: 2010 Order of Merit citizen, a recognition for Dominicans who had excelled. 2009 The Dominican American Cultural association 2007 Dominican National award, a recognition presented to Dominicans of excellence and pride. In 2003 he became the first Dominican artist to receive a Presidential invitation to the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

. In 2008 he was presented with the National Dominican Prize by President

Leonel Antonio Fernández Reyna Leonel is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Leonel Altobelli (born 1986), Argentine footballer * Leonel Álvarez (born 1965), former Colombian football defensive midfielder * Leonel Bastos or Lionel Bastos, singer, songwriter and ...

of the Dominican Republic.

References

External links

The Banana Factory Website

Rigo Peralta's website

Spanish language website featuring Rigo's work
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peralta, Rigo Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Dominican Republic artists Art Students League of New York alumni