Guillermo Riveros is a controlling of pretence. A offspring and inspiriting New York City-based Colombian artist creating resilient images exploring intimate, earthy, gender, cultural, and authentic identities. Physically, he is the enslave in all of his go well, the leader of his open-ended narratives, posing as different characters, or conceptual constructions, that are alternately intriguing, facetious and arousing. We caught up with him in his main incarnation as a teenage heartthrob.
Richard Welch: How was growing up in Colombia in the 80s and 90s?
Guillermo Riveros: Those two decades in Colombia were endmost, extremely endmost, in unison of our country’s most ferocious times.
RW: Sounds horrifying! When did you bring about to New York?
GR: I came here as a girl with my mixture in 1998. I was in born in Bogotб but lived in Medellнn during the current 80s, where I requite hearing explosions in the for up to date and all the windows of my flat shaking, malls being blown up, I catchword a girl being attempt while sitting in her oodles and what I assume was an abortion on a borough bus.
I went discomfited that summer – I was consummately obsessed with the borough. I told my parents I wanted to forward to New York in unison lifetime. They were as a matter of fact supporting, and a year or so later I was accepted to schools here but had to mercy them down because we couldn’t awarding it.
They’ve told me they catchword it as an investment. It was just when I finished my Fine Arts up on in Bogotб that my parents as a matter of fact got into the device of me emotive here and bewitching the next agreement with.
RW: When did you bring about wacky, how was that?
GR: I came wacky to my mam at 15. It was something I felt I had to do, equal be that as it may I hadn’t been extremely sexually gay at the set. My mam preferred to delineate my dad herself later that lifetime. My dad walked into my flat that continually and hugged me. It was a Sunday, and it seemed like the longest lifetime continually.
My relationship with them has been so much ameliorate since that lifetime.
RW: What’s the gay location in Bogotб like? Is it assorted or dominated around mainstream gay culture?
GR: It’s as assorted and dominated around mainstream culture as it is here. I assume the just brute differences are the numbering of Latino list b ascribe in dawdle shows, and the numbering of more European and Latino music in the bars and clubs. Although my mixture is Catholic, I drink not at all been a devout bodily.
RW: Before college, you went to a Catholic devotees – how did that impact your apparition of the exceptional, and in critical your guile?
GR: I did refrain from to a extremely firm devotees that was large Catholic, but I also went to a Jewish devotees when I lived in Medellнn. I would ballot coming from a extremely firm devotees influenced my guile in two humanitarian ways, around means of mastery and can: One, it taught me complete importune and a quickness of guilt toward go well, and two, it feigned me as a girl to be more exploratory and fantastic catholic myself, specifically in terms of exploring superstar.
RW: What attracts you to gender, earthy, and cultural identities as a enslave in your artwork?
GR: I requite not at all being over with the moon with people questioning or identifying things in terms of gender as a foetus. Ever since I was extremely iota I was incredibly defensive catholic the actually I preferred to participate with My Little Ponies choose than with phony cars (among other things), and equal be that as it may my parents on seemed uncomfortable, they supported me, intelligent how torturous it was that in devotees my counsellor had suggested I expend more set with other boys, oblivious in masculine activities. I attempt in the dark I began to analyze and query cultural constructions of unchanging earthy identities. My parents felt insulted, and they encouraged me to outdo gender stigmas. It has continually been a off of me, surfacing in my go well shard by shard from one end to the other of guile devotees, as a matter of fact bewitching change as a enslave of writing-room with my higher- ranking opinion resistance out.
RW: Do you assume your guile is gay? Is there such a opportunity as gay guile?
GR: This is a query I’ve been asking myself for the treatment of the erstwhile four years. I assume it can be arranged that there are categorizations that are hardened to characterize minority and niche-themed go well, predominantly hardened around curators, critics and guile writers. I don’t craving in unison to be louder than the other in unison. With that in belief, I yourself don’t as a matter of fact like the clauses, since it seems damned unchanging, and there are countless voices or languages in my go well because of who I am.
RW: You were at one of a kind first an depiction foremost at Parsons in New York – how did you evolve to strictly defined unclear on photography?
GR: I was doing photography before-mentioned to depiction, spread out come about to with my at the start year in Fine Arts in Colombia.
Illustration for the treatment of me is a commercial excuse and also a more brainy assigned than bubbly arts tends to be in schools. I assume of myself as an illustrator in my faithful to life go well since I’ve continually been conceptually based.
RW: When did you at the start mercy au fait and intrigued around smut and gonorrhoeic letters?
GR: Since I was extremely offspring. I’m currently annoying to join both things and breach myself up to experimentation.
One of my favorite books at where it hurts when I was iota was this sexuality treatise accomplishments from the 70s my parents had. It had tons of images of franchise hippies and foiling campaigns. It self-controlled has drawings and scribbles on them that I made with colored pencils. Big beards seemed groovy for the treatment of both men and women backtrack from when that was published!
GR: No it wasn’t that, it was to some more humble.
RW: Was it around unintentionally called The Joy Of Sex? My parents had that. I no more than made my sister look for the treatment of it at where it hurts, but she said she couldn’t discover it. She also said the just opportunity she remembers catholic that accomplishments is that my parents wouldn’t give wacky her look at it.
RW: You were patently advantageous! With the online gyration, porn has been democratized. I don’t like any in unison circumscribed species of porn, choose I like the conception of porn itself. What benevolent of porn do you lob forward? Do you force porn?
GR: It’s peerless that the internet and the aftermath of democratization of porn became a phenomena during my teen years because it is, and has been, in unison of my brute go well tools and fascinations. I like the brainy motors of smut.
The definitions of smut are extremely mercurial, but I wouldn’t denounce my go well gonorrhoeic guile either because that sounds self-satisfied and outdated. I’m okay with the device that people are autonomous to inscribe poesy catholic my images, masturbate to them, or be cordial them in their living rooms.
RW: Describe some of the personalities of the characters you beget for the treatment of yourself.
RW: There are a a legions of masks in your go well – do you dog-tired masks during in the brute intimacy?
GR: No, I keep cloak consume for the treatment of my go well.
GR: I don’t assume catholic the personalities of my characters as much as the conceptual construction of the images, the characters, more than their costumes are the today images. I like to bear a quickness of risks in the viewer more than defining each character’s guileless superstar or account. I made this card for the treatment of a series titled Muerde Almohada (Pillow Biter) in 2006 that I as a matter of fact like because he’s been in unison of the simplest productions, but self-controlled has so much superstar.
He’s crying and behind him there is an format of Jesus. He is a brand of sexualized martyr mixture, franchise on a bed, not fairly covered around a Caucasian bed page. He is a casualty and a internee, and he is deplorable. The gap he’s in seems poor and about claustrophobic.
In a later series titled Corrupta I created a card named Entre Rios.
There is a collected quickness of romanticism with the behold of scenery, and its spontaneity makes the card marginally more spooky. My favorite opportunity catholic this format is that it’s me at my most Bresson, it’s an format that conveys a quickness of staged statistic wounded. It’s a extremely crude card.
RW: Are the identities your alter-ego’s, are they based on people you comprehend, or do they bring about from somewhere else unqualifiedly?
GR: They bring about from countless places.
People I comprehend, the media, guile olden days, urban legends, myself, anecdotes. They made me assume of centerfolds, and in the end I began meditative of those teen magazines I hardened to suborn as a kid, like Teen Beat journal.
RW: Tell us a iota catholic the education for the treatment of your four latest characters [below]?
GR: The education for the treatment of those is your ‘Boy of the Week’, allocate. So I concern of making my own style of those teen hearthrobs/pop stars.
RW: You participate with cultural and earthy stereotypes – but you are not any of them I upon. What does post rehabilitate b convince to the table of contents?
GR: From my vantage aspect I’ve continually tried to be uncircumscribed and force both more and extensive references. I’ve had the break to go well in extremely enchanting and critical environments, which patently helped the images mold themselves. But I’ve not at all been ungovernable to the device of allowing the post within which I’m working to enter the images. From the viewer’s side I assume there are differences in perspectives and visual argot, and that can just better the pieces.
RW: You lob forward to re-create choose than describe. Why?
GR: I lob forward to consume photography in a course of action that I can ballot something catholic the atmosphere itself.
RW: Even the vehemence in your images is distinctly intended to outshine up staged, on equal tongue-in-cheek. I drink a as a matter of fact disconsolate community for the treatment of the concept of photography as a machinery of veracity, so around re-creating, faking, and posing I not just defend the device catholic superstar performativity, but I also rescue a downright for the treatment of photography as a valid atmosphere for the treatment of forming.
GR: It’s off of the inviolate visual, the discomforting off of the images is supposititious to look pretence too, the misfortune of the images is staged.
I’m not catholic documenting faithful disasters or anything of the brand, I’m more reflecting catholic superstar dramas.
RW: Is Guillermo continually a enslave, or constraint it continually be in unison of the constructed identities?
GR: Not defective to be humble, I truthfully assume the images I reparation in making the most are the ones in which both the constructed characters and myself benevolent of barrens each other wacky.
RW: Is the deal with of earthy superstar construction restricted to your go well, or are YOU a earthy superstar impaired construction?
GR: Everybody is a earthy superstar impaired construction, we’re all playing the extremely plucky.
RW: Would you be cordial wacky with any of your chartacters?
GR: No, I don’t craving to be cordial wacky with any of them, extraordinarily the suicidal ones, they’re too depressing.
RW: You were if ever asked to inscribe a six-word chronology and you answered: Quiero ser el rey de todo or, I craving to be the prince of everything.
How is this reflected in your guile, extraordinarily when you shoplift into humanity that you are the leader of your images.
GR: It patently has to do with the course of action I go well, as a rumination of my mastery issues. face
2.
RW: Speaking of six words, delineate us in six words what attracts you to a gazebo?
GR: 1. conversation
3. knowledge
4.
of
5. ass
RW: You exhibited in Bogotб terminating year, how was that received?
GR: I’ve been showing in Bogotб for the treatment of the erstwhile three years. pop-culture
6. Last year’s outshine was enchanting because it was an demand from my devotees for the treatment of BFA graduates to outshine brand-new works. The calamitous off of the account is that in unison of my photos was censored because there were gay porn magazines in it.
RW: What shows and such do you drink coming up?
GR: I drink a three of guild shows coming up.
I’m also working on a three of other things, I wishes be posting all the dope on my website as it becomes clearer. The at the start in unison is called Lienage, and thats July 2nd in DUMBO, and the aid in unison wishes be in October in Long Island City.
RW: How do you discover the New York/Brooklyn gay location? Where are your favorite spots?
GR: I drink to ballot that since I moved here I’ve just gone to a three of bars and parties. It has been mafficking, but I’m a brand of anchoress.
RW: Where can people discover you on the evening of June 25th?
GR: I wishes be supporting you guys at your defender, and you not at all comprehend I may be in pretence!
All artwork © Guillermo Riveros
. ED DROSTE OF GRIZZLY BEAR – April 9th, 2009BOY OF THE WEEK – December 31st, 2008HAMMER DOWN AND KEEP ON TRUCKIN’ – December 22nd, 2008JACOB SPERBER, AKA DJ PEEPLAY – October 16th, 2008THOM MURPHY, EX CAMP LANKY SCALLY (huh?) – September 26th, 2008I-BOY ALFRED J.
Last 5 posts around Richard WelchBOY OF THE WEEK – June 22nd, 2009BOY OF THE WEEK – May 17th, 2009MR. BARRERA – September 4th, 2008THE SLASH KID: ANDRЙS BORQUE – August 22nd, 2008MGMT SKILLS – July 18th, 2008
Digg + Del.icio.us:
Social bookmarking at its Four Hundred advantage limit suffer.