Artists & Collaborations

"Sculpture expresses in three dimensions

many of the the same emotions and thoughts that music and dance express."

 

Francisco Rivera was born February 24th,1953 in Spanish Harlem, in New York City. From an early age, art was something that called him. At 11, he started drawing, and at 17, he studied ceramics, which sparked a pull toward an art which was tactile and three dimensional, and led to his determination to devote his life to sculpture. With so many sources of inspiration and learning available in New York City, the principal places of his artistic education were: the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum of Art School, Lehman College, the Art Students League, the Sculpture Center and the Museum of Modern Art. He spent a year in Greece studying independently the art of the ancient and modern Greeks, which is expressed in many of his works. 

He began exhibiting in 1980 and has exhibited in group shows and a one man show. He was a member of The Stone Sculpture Society of NY.  His work can be found in private collections in this country and abroad.

Teaching  has been a passion of his for years. He has taught at the Sculpture Center, where he was an Assistant Director, the Five Towns Music and Art School, Long Island, NY, The Educational Alliance and The New School, both in New York City.

While he considers himself primarily a direct stone carver, he also continues to work in other media, such as clay, plaster, bronze and wood.  

He now lives and works in New York's Hudson Valley with his wife.

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"Scream Button"

by Nicholas Kontaxis

Featured in our Fall 2023 Performance

24 x 36 Acrylic on Canvas   www.NicholasKontaxis.com

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​​Gift of Emanuel Monogenis

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 Nicholas Kontaxis is a thriving, self-taught, 26-year-old abstract expressionist artist whose unique passion for life shines through his vibrant paintings with a riot of primary colors. Having landed solo exhibitions in Los Angeles (including a recent sold-out solo exhibition at the renowned UTA Artist Space), Palm Desert, Sun Valley, Chicago, Atlanta, Brooklyn and London, Nicholas’ art has created a platform for him to express himself and tell his own story. He was born with a brain tumor that has resulted in thousands of seizures over his lifetime, atypical motor function, and neurodiversity. His speech is made up of short utterances, which typically become the ingenious titles of his paintings and solo exhibitions, such as: “Blue Giraffes”, “Your Heart Beats Nice”, “Catch Me”. Nicholas has had numerous commissioned works, including the Los Angeles Chargers, Kaiser Permanente Hospitals, and Adidas at Coachella in 2019. His work is breathtakingly stunning, bold, incredibly unique, high in demand, and has garnered international critical acclaim.

 

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