Quintín Rivera Toro

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Quintín Rivera Toro, was born in Caguas, Puerto Rico in 1978. He has a B.F.A. in Sculpture from Hunter College in New York, USA (2001); a B.A. in Communications and Cinema, from the U.P.R., Río Piedras campus (2007); an M.F.A. in Sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design, in Providence, Rhode Island, USA (2013); and a Ph.D. in Art Production and Research from the Polytechnic University of Valencia, in Spain (2019). He has been an artist in residence at the Vermont Studio Center, in Johnson, Vermont; the National Academy of Design in New York City; the Ox Bow School of Art, S.A.I.C., in Saugatuck, Michigan; the Mass MoCA Studios and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. The New York Times has called Quintín's work “Impressive contemporary art”; and he was named by Refinery 29 as part of the "Top 10 list of rising NYC art stars", in a selection by curator Casey Fremont. In the 2023, his “Strong Painting - Future" was awarded the Acquisition Prize of the Bassat Foundation in Barcelona, ​​Spain.

The series of "Strong Paintings" investigates, through the materiality of the corrugated canvas, the semantic possibilities of the word, and the collapse and expansiveness of the ideas we live with. It is important to recognize two fundamental aspects about words. The first thing is that the words are permanently alive; They evolve, change and adapt to their time. The second thing, that the political context culture of each concept, of each word, varies enormously by country, by region and person, creating an apparent infinity of interpretive possibilities. On the other hand, what is not named is not understood and what is not known is fear, be it a feeling, a person or an image. Only by naming it can we face it, size it, get closer, get familiar. Ultimately, it all starts with the word.