The intriguing art of Jade Rivera

Jade Rivera was born in Junín, Peru in 1983. When he was seven months old he and his mother emigrated to Peru’s capital Lima. Rivera grew up in the Chorrillos district, studied at a public school, and his curiosity about art started when he was eleven years old.

Later, at age 14, he had his first encounter with graffiti. And the biggest influence for him was a visit he made to the Louvre Museum, where he witnessed the work of the great masters of art. As if it were a revelation, Jade began to introduce himself more and more to pictorial realism.

At the age of seventeen he enrolled at the National Pre-School of Fine Arts, but gave up applying at the last moment, developing his work empirically. Rivera defines his work as a self-taught since 1997.

Jade Rivera has been recognized for his large-format murals and also for his miniatures in different parts of the world. Along with his work as an urban artist, Jade spends much of his time working in the studio exploring more traditional techniques such as oil and watercolor.

The most popular themes in his work include people’s relationship with nature, childhood, imagination, the meaning of life and achieving one’s dreams. When asked his opinion about his painting Jade says: “My paintings remind me that every second we die and we fade”.

His work can be found at the Jade Rivera Museum in Barranco, included in our Bohemian Barranco & Colorful Callao experience.