Rigo Peralta
Encyclopedia
Rigo Peralta is a Dominican
artist
living in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
, United States
.
, Dominican Republic
. He studied at the National Academy of Fine Arts in Santiago
, Dominican Republic.
He emigrated to New York City
in 1989 and studied at the Art Students League of New York
. From 2002-2003, he served as the art director of the Casa de la Cultura Dominicana.
pieces. His inspiration includes the growing automated nature of mankind
, religion, sex, and his nationality. He was recently commissioned by the Sands Casino in Bethlehem to produce a series of paintings depicting both the community and the newly renovated steel mill
.
2007 Exhibition at The Baum School of Art
2006 Extreme at the Rio 2 Gallery. New York, N Y
2005 Monsoon Gallery Bethlehem, PA
2005 Maquinas Universal the North Light Loft Gallery Allentown Pennsylvania
In 1996 he exhibited his work Spiritual Essence at the Boricua College, Gallery Graham Center, Brooklyn, NY. He exhibited his work Mas Alla de Aqui or More There of Here in 1997 at the 97th Street Branch Library in New York, NY. In 1999 he made had another professional exhibit with Witness of the Time which debuted at the Fort Washington Penthouse in New York, NY. More recently, his exhibition, Transition debuted at the Ellarslie Museum in Trenton, NJ in 2004
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
. In 2008 he was presented with the National Dominican Prize by President Leonel Antonio Fernández Reyna of the Dominican Republic.
Rigo Peralta's website
Spanish language website featuring Rigo's work
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
living in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Bethlehem is a city in Lehigh and Northampton Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 74,982, making it the seventh largest city in Pennsylvania, after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie,...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Early life
Mario Rigoberto Peralta was born in San José de las MatasSan José de las Matas
San José de las Matas is a municipality of the Santiago province in the Dominican Republic. Within the municipality there are three municipal districts : El Rubio, La Cuesta and Las Placetas....
, Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
. He studied at the National Academy of Fine Arts in Santiago
Santiago de los Caballeros
Santiago de los Caballeros is a city in the Dominican Republic. Founded in 1495 during the first wave of European colonization of the New World, today Santiago is the second largest metropolis in the Dominican Republic, located in the north-central region of the Republic known as Cibao valley...
, Dominican Republic.
He emigrated to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1989 and studied at the Art Students League of New York
Art Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school located on West 57th Street in New York City. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists, and has maintained for over 130 years a tradition of offering reasonably priced classes on a...
. From 2002-2003, he served as the art director of the 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 surrealistSurrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
pieces. His inspiration includes the growing automated nature of mankind
Automation
Automation is the use of control systems and information technologies to reduce the need for human work in the production of goods and services. In the scope of industrialization, automation is a step beyond mechanization...
, religion, sex, and his nationality. He was recently commissioned by the Sands Casino in Bethlehem to produce a series of paintings depicting both the community and the newly renovated steel mill
Bethlehem Steel
The Bethlehem Steel Corporation , based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was once the second-largest steel producer in the United States, after Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based U.S. Steel. After a decline in the U.S...
.
2007 Exhibition at The Baum School of Art
2006 Extreme at the Rio 2 Gallery. New York, N Y
2005 Monsoon Gallery Bethlehem, PA
2005 Maquinas Universal the North Light Loft Gallery Allentown Pennsylvania
In 1996 he exhibited his work Spiritual Essence at the Boricua College, Gallery Graham Center, Brooklyn, NY. He exhibited his work Mas Alla de Aqui or More There of Here in 1997 at the 97th Street Branch Library in New York, NY. In 1999 he made had another professional exhibit with Witness of the Time which debuted at the Fort Washington Penthouse in New York, NY. More recently, his exhibition, Transition debuted at the Ellarslie Museum in Trenton, NJ in 2004
Collective exhibitions
Collective showings including the 1993 Art is Ageless exhibition at the North Concourse Gallery, Albany, NY. He participated in the 1996 Faces of America's Lucent Technologies in Warren, NJ, and the 1999 Sintesis de un Lenguaje at the Pearl Gallery, New York, NY.Awards
2010 Lehigh –Art- Alliance 75th Annual Fall Juried Exhibition at Allentown Art Museum Air Products Foundation Award2010 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
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
. In 2008 he was presented with the National Dominican Prize by President Leonel Antonio Fernández Reyna of the Dominican Republic.
External links
Rigo Peralta's website
Spanish language website featuring Rigo's work