Rigoberto Torres

Using my life casting technique to define lifestyle, I draw inspiration from my subjects. My output becomes personal.  My concerns are to try to develop an image rather then an actual representation of people.  It is a celebration of life that combines the realism of traditional portraiture with the iconic presence of sculpture.  However, I veer from the realism of Duane Hanson with texture of wrinkles and strokes of my rasp. Vivid colors bursting with life is much a part of the creation process as is the sculpture.  I never impose upon my subjects to represent anything but themselves.  Straying from social consciousness, I draw my inspiration from other mental aspects of life.  To quote the Senior Curator, Dan Cameron, of The New Contemporary Museum, NY: 

“Every artist’s work is about time, place and circumstance, but Rigoberto Torres case; the fervor with which he embraces all three factors lends the work a directness and intensity that is extremely rare in the contemporary art world”

Rigoberto Torres @ East Harlem Studio

• Museum of Fine Art, Boston
• Baltimore Museum of Art, MD
• The Lannan Foundation, Los Angeles, CA
• Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, NY
• Baruch College, New York
• City College of New York
• Museum of Contemporary, Chicago, IL
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art, N.Y.
• Witte de With, Rotterdam
• Orlando Museum of Art, 
• The Contemporary Art Center, Cincinnati
• The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu
• Polk Museum of Art, FL

                          Biography

Select excerpts, for complete biography contact gallery
webnyc@ix.netcom.com
                                               
Born in Aquadilla, Puerto Rico

One person exhibitions:

2004 
Rigoberto Torres e John Ahearn, Caci, Realizacao Centro de Arte Contemporanea Inhotim, Brumadinho, Puerto Rico
2002
The Life Sculptures of Rigoberto Torres, Polk Museum of Art, FL
1998
Sculpture from East 100th Street, Alexander and Bonin, New York
1997-1998
Sculpture by Rigoberto Torres and John Ahearn: Tower Air Lines Terminal, J.F.K. International Airport, NYC
1995
The Works of Rigoberto Torres , Lehman College Art Gallery, Bronx, N.Y.
1993
Sculpture by John Ahearn and Rigoberto Torres:  "The South Bronx Hall of Fame and Other Realities" Douglas T, Cooley Memorial Art Gallery of Reed College, Portland, OR.,
traveling to, The Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe
"Friends and Neighbors", The Art of Rigoberto Torres & John Ahearn, The Baltimore Museum of Art, MD., traveling to Lehman College /City University of New York, NY
1992 
"Face to Face", Rigoberto Torres & John Ahearn, Washington Project of the Arts, Washington, DC
1991-92
South Bronx Hall of Fame, Sculpture by  Rigoberto Torres & John Ahearn, Contemporary Art Museum, Houston: Witte de Rotterdam; The Contemporary Museum, Cincinnati; The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu 
1991
Rigoberto Torres, Sculpture 1990-91, Brooke Alexander, New York