Guillermo Riveros is a master of disguise. A young and ambitious New York City-based Colombian artist creating powerful images exploring personal, sexual, gender, cultural, and historical identities. Physically, he is the subject in all of his work, the protagonist of his open-ended narratives, posing as various characters, or “conceptual constructions”, that are alternately intriguing, humorous and arousing. We caught up with him in his current 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 extreme, very extreme, one of our country’s most violent times. I was in born in Bogotá but lived in Medellín during the late 80s, where I remember hearing explosions in the distance and all the windows of my room shaking, malls being blown up, I saw a woman being shot while sitting in her car and what I think was an abortion on a city bus.

RW: Sounds frightening! When did you come to New York?

GR: I came here as a teenager with my family in 1998. I went crazy that summer - I was totally obsessed with the city. I told my parents I wanted to move to New York one day. They were really supportive, and a year or so later I was accepted to schools here but had to turn them down because we couldn’t afford it. It was only when I finished my Fine Arts degree in Bogotá that my parents really got into the idea of me moving here and taking the next step. They’ve told me they saw it as an investment.


RW: When did you come out, how was that?

GR: I came out to my mother at 15. It was something I felt I had to do, even though I hadn’t been very sexually active at the time. My mother preferred to tell my dad herself later that day. It was a Sunday, and it seemed like the longest day ever. My dad walked into my room that night and hugged me. My relationship with them has been so much better since that day.

RW: What’s the gay scene in Bogotá like? Is it diverse or dominated by mainstream gay culture?

GR: It’s as diverse and dominated by mainstream culture as it is here. I think the only main differences are the inclusion of Latino camp in drag shows, and the inclusion of more European and Latino music in the bars and clubs.

RW: Before college, you went to a Catholic school - how did that influence your vision of the world, and in particular your art?

GR: I did go to a very strict school that was mainly Catholic, but I also went to a Jewish school when I lived in Medellín. Although my family is Catholic, I have never been a religious person. I would say coming from a very strict school influenced my art in two big ways, by means of control and restriction: One, it taught me good discipline and a sense of responsibility towards work, and two, it forced me as a teenager to be more exploratory and creative about myself, specifically in terms of exploring identity.

RW: What attracts you to gender, sexual, and cultural identities as a subject in your artwork?

GR: I remember never being happy with people questioning or identifying things in terms of gender as a child. Ever since I was very little I was incredibly defensive about the fact I preferred to play with My Little Ponies rather than with toy cars (among other things), and even though my parents sometimes seemed uncomfortable, they supported me, knowing how painful it was that in school my teacher had suggested I spend more time with other boys, engaged in masculine activities. My parents felt insulted, and they encouraged me to surpass gender stigmas. I guess I began to analyze and question cultural constructions of fixed sexual identities. It has always been a part of me, surfacing in my work gradually throughout art school, really taking shape as a subject of study with my senior thesis project.
RW: Do you think your art is gay? Is there such a thing as gay art?

GR: This is a question I’ve been asking myself for the past four years. I think it can be understood that there are categorizations that are used to label minority and niche-themed work, predominantly used by curators, critics and art writers. With that in mind, I personally don’t really like the term, since it seems extremely fixed, and there are many voices or languages in my work because of who I am. I don’t want one to be louder than the other one.

RW: You were originally an illustration major at Parsons in New York - how did you evolve to focus on photography?

GR: I was doing photography before illustration, beginning with my first year in Fine Arts in Colombia. Illustration for me is a commercial option and also a more intellectual practice than fine arts tends to be in schools. I think of myself as an illustrator in my photographic work since I’ve always been conceptually based. I’m currently trying to marry both things and opening myself up to experimentation.
RW: When did you first become aware and intrigued by pornography and erotic literature?

GR: Since I was very young. One of my favorite books at home when I was little was this sexuality text book from the 70s my parents had. It had tons of images of naked hippies and prevention campaigns. It still has drawings and scribbles on them that I made with colored pencils.

RW: Was it by chance called The Joy Of Sex? My parents had that. Big beards seemed popular for both men and women back when that was published!

GR: No it wasn’t that, it was somewhat more obscure. I just made my sister look for it at home, but she said she couldn’t find it. She also said the only thing she remembers about that book is that my parents wouldn’t let her look at it.

RW: You were obviously lucky! With the online revolution, porn has been democratized. What kind of porn do you prefer? Do you make porn?

GR: It’s amazing that the internet and the subsequent democratization of porn became a phenomena during my teen years because it is, and has been, one of my main work tools and fascinations. I don’t like any one specific genre of porn, rather I like the notion of porn itself. I like the intellectual motors of pornography. The definitions of pornography are very unstable, but I wouldn’t call my work erotic art either because that sounds snobbish and outdated. I’m okay with the idea that people are free to write poetry about my images, masturbate to them, or hang them in their living rooms.
RW: There are a lot of masks in your work - do you wear masks during sex?

GR: No, I reserve mask use for my work.

RW: Describe some of the personalities of the characters you create for yourself.

GR: I don’t think about the personalities of my characters as much as the conceptual construction of the images, the characters, more than their costumes are the actual images. I like to generate a sense of speculation in the viewer more than defining each character’s full personality or story. I made this character for a series titled “Muerde Almohada” (Pillow Biter) in 2006 that I really like because he’s been one of the simplest productions, but still has so much personality. He is a sort of sexualized martyr type, naked on a bed, barely covered by a white bed sheet. He’s crying and behind him there is an image of Jesus. He is a victim and a prisoner, and he is miserable. The space he’s in seems small and almost claustrophobic.

In a later series titled “Corrupta” I created a character named Entre Rios. My favorite thing about this image is that it’s me at my most Bresson, it’s an image that conveys a sense of staged casualty. There is a certain sense of romanticism with the view of nature, and its spontaneity makes the character slightly more eerie. It’s a very raw character.

RW: Are the identities your alter-ego’s, are they based on people you know, or do they come from somewhere else entirely?

GR: They come from many places. People I know, the media, art history, urban legends, myself, anecdotes…

RW: Tell us a little about the inspiration for your four latest characters [below]?

GR: The inspiration for those is your ‘Boy of the Week’, section. They made me think of centerfolds, and eventually I began thinking of those teen magazines I used to buy as a kid, like Teen Beat magazine. So I thought of making my own version of those teen hearthrobs/pop stars.

RW: You play with cultural and sexual stereotypes - but you are none of them I presume. What does context bring to the table?

GR: From my perspective I’ve always tried to be universal and make both local and global references. But I’ve never been resistant to the idea of allowing the context within which I’m working to permeate the images. I’ve had the opportunity to work in very interesting and particular environments, which definitely helped the images mold themselves. From the viewer’s side I think there are differences in perspectives and visual language, and that can only enrich the pieces.

RW: You choose to re-create rather than document. Why?

GR: I choose to use photography in a way that I can say something about the medium itself. I have a really bad disposition for the concept of photography as a mechanism of veracity, so by re-creating, faking, and posing I not only reinforce the idea about identity performativity, but I also reclaim a place for photography as a valid medium for creation.

RW: Even the violence in your images is clearly intended to appear staged, sometimes even tongue-in-cheek.

GR: It’s part of the entire visual, the discomforting part of the images is supposed to look fake too, the tragedy of the images is staged. I’m not about documenting natural disasters or anything of the sort, I’m more reflecting about identity dramas.

RW: Is Guillermo ever a subject, or must it always be one of the constructed identities?

GR: Not wanting to be cryptic, I honestly think the images I enjoy making the most are the ones in which both the constructed characters and myself kind of cancel each other out.

RW: Would you hang out with any of your chartacters?

GR: No, I don’t want to hang out with any of them, especially the suicidal ones, they’re too depressing.

RW: Is the process of sexual identity construction restricted to your work, or are YOU a sexual identity under construction?

GR: Everybody is a sexual identity under construction, we’re all playing the same game.
RW: You were once asked to write a six-word memoir and you answered: “Quiero ser el rey de todo” or, “I want to be the king of everything”. How is this reflected in your art, especially when you take into consideration that you are the protagonist of your images.

GR: It definitely has to do with the way I work, as a reflection of my control issues.

RW: Speaking of six words, tell us in six words what attracts you to a guy?

GR: 1. face
2. conversation
3. knowledge
4. of
5. pop-culture
6. ass

RW: You exhibited in Bogotá last year, how was that received?

GR: I’ve been showing in Bogotá for the past three years. Last year’s show was interesting because it was an invitation from my school for BFA graduates to show recent works. The sad part of the story is that one of my photos was censored because there were gay porn magazines in it.
RW: What shows and such do you have coming up?

GR: I have a couple of group shows coming up. The first one is called “Lienage”, and thats July 2nd in DUMBO, and the second one will be in October in Long Island City. I’m also working on a couple of other things, I will be posting all the information on my website as it becomes clearer.

RW: How do you find the New York/Brooklyn gay scene? Where are your favorite spots?

GR: I have to say that since I moved here I’ve only gone to a couple of bars and parties. It has been fun, but I’m a sort of hermit.

RW: Where can people find you on the evening of June 25th?

GR: I will be supporting you guys at your party, and you never know I may be in disguise!
All artwork © Guillermo Riveros
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