Sophie Rivera (June 1938 – May 22, 2021) was an American artist and photographer of Puerto Rican-American descent. She was also an early member and instructor of En Foco, a not-for-profit organisation centred on contemporary fine art and photographers of diverse cultures. Rivera is best known for her 1978 photography series ''Nuyorican Portraits''. Redefining Puerto Rican identity in the United States, the series included 50 black and white portraits taken in her home of Puerto Ricans in her neighbourhood.

Biography

Rivera was born in 1938 in

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, New York. She attended the

New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research (NSSR) is a graduate-level educational institution that is one of the divisions of The New School in New York City, United States. The university was founded in 1919 as a home for progressive era thinkers. NSSR ...

and Apeiron Workshops in Millerton, New York. Rivera's work included activism and teaching especially in her famous photography, the 1978 series Nuyorican Portraits. An early member and instructor of En Foco, Rivera later joined their board of advisors. Rivera also worked as a curator, and ran a photography gallery. She died on May 22, 2021.

Artworks

''Rouge et Noir (Red and Black) 1977-1978'', included five coloured photographs capturing used tampons in a toilet bowl. ''Bowl Study'', 1977–1978, included four black and white photographs of her own faces. Created during the same period, both series captured bodily fluids in a toilet bowl. Created to deconstruct the female body and taboo topics, Rivera's series was later followed with ''self-portrait,'' a black and white photograph capturing her crouched, naked body over a toilet bowl. ''Nuyorican Portraits'', ''1978'', is a collection of 50 black and white photographs of Puerto Rican Americans in her neighbourhood. Deconstructing the stereotypical American image of Puerto Ricans, the series functioned to embrace individuality and diversity. This was achieved through the consistent use of her home as the location for the photographs, with participants captured against a black backdrop. Her most famous series, six pieces from the collection were presented at the Yankee Stadium on December 14, 1989, in an exhibition titled ''Revelations: A Latino Portfolio''. Subsequently, 36 of the fifty photographs were destroyed in studio fire. ''Woman and Child'', 1979, a black and white photograph of a woman and toddler sitting together in a bus or train. This work was published in the journal ''Heresies'', in an issue that explored the extent to which female artwork challenged societal views of the female sex. ''Heresies'' functioned to create a dialogue between Rivera's work and the audience and build a new perception of female artists. ''Blizzard'', 1980, a gelatin silver print depicting a person standing in a blizzard. Deliberately blurry, it is only the subject's smile that is visible.

Exhibitions

Solo

* 1972 Third Eye Gallery, New York * 1975 Goths, Demons, and others, Crossroads Gallery New York * 1987 Sophie Rivera: All Hallow's Eve,

El Museo del Barrio El Museo del Barrio, often known simply as El Museo (the museum), is a museum at 1230 Fifth Avenue in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is located near the northern end of Fifth Avenue's Museum Mile, immediately north of the Museum of the Cit ...

, New York * 1996 Two/Two, University of Connecticut, West Hartford * 2006 Portraits, Jersey City Museum, New Jersey

''Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art'' (2013-2014)

''Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art'' was presented by the

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (commonly known as SAAM, and formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds o ...

and incorporated works from a diverse range of Latino artists. The works presented American culture as the holder of a diverse network of Latinos and conveyed the influence Latinos have had on American culture through their art. Two of Rivera's Nuyorican portraits was included in this exhibition. These portraits demonstrated that Latinos are not bystanders of the American culture and are instead helping build it. The Smithsonian American Art Museum now holds two photographs from the ''Nuyorican Portraits''.

''Radical Women: Latin America Art 1960 - 1985'' (2017-2018)

Rivera's work was showcased in the exhibition ''Radical Women-Latin America Art 1960-1985'' which presented the work of Latina artists during the 1960s and 1980s. Held at the

Hammer Museum The Hammer Museum, which is affiliated with the University of California, Los Angeles, is an art museum and cultural center known for its artist-centric and progressive array of exhibitions and public programs. Founded in 1990 by the entrepreneur- ...

in 2017 and subsequently at the

Brooklyn Museum of Art The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...

in 2018, the California exhibition included Rivera's 1977–1978 series ''Rouge et Noir,'' while the Brooklyn exhibition additionally included two portraits from her ''Nuyorican Portraits'' series. Showcasing racially diverse artists, the exhibition's summary stated, "The artists featured in Radical Women have made extraordinary contributions to the field of contemporary art, but little scholarly attention has been devoted to situating their work within the social, cultural, and political contexts in which it was ''made''".

Awards

* New York Foundation for the Arts Award in Photography 1988-1989

Bibliography

Aranda-Alvarado, Rocio. "Sophie Rivera: Portraits." Nueva Luz 11, no. 2 (2006): 31–34. Associates, Midmarch. Women Artists News, Volumes 16–17. Midmarch Associates, 1991 Colon-Morales, Rafael. Sophie Rivera: All Hallows Eve. New York: El Museo del Barrio, 1987. Ramírez, Rafael, and Sophie Rivera. Vapors: An En Foco Exhibition. Bronx, N.Y: En Foco, 1980. Print. Ramos, E C. Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art., 2014. Print. Rivera, Sophie. All Hallows Eve. New York, N.Y: El Museo del Barrio, 1986. Print. Rivera, Sophie. Photographic Exhibition Two: September 17 - October 21, 1995. New York, NY: Wilmer Jennings Gallery at Kenkeleba, 1995. Print. Seigel, J. Mutiny and the Mainstream: Talk that Changed Art, 1975–1990. Midmarch Arts Press, 1992 The Light Work Annual 2008. Light Work, 2008. Three Women Three Islands: Sophie Rivera, Manhattan, Lilia Fontana, Cuba, Freida Medín Ojeda, Puerto Rico. New York, N.Y: El Museo del Barrio, 1983. Print. Torruella Leval, Susana. "Looking at People." Center Quarterly; A Publication of the Center for Women's Studies and Services 12 (1990–91):unpaged

References

External links

* https://www.publicartfund.org/view/exhibitions/5980_revelations_a_latino_portfolio/#&gid=1&pid=2 * https://www.mutualart.com/Artwork/BLIZZARD/A2A8896E1FB15B6D *https://americanart.si.edu/artist/sophie-rivera-29862 {{DEFAULTSORT:Rivera, Sophie 1938 births 2021 deaths 21st-century American women artists American people of Puerto Rican descent Puerto Rican artists Artists from the Bronx Photographers from the Bronx