Portrait of an Artist is an exhibition of eighteen digital portraits plus seven miscellaneous images, accompanied by music. There is a sculptor, two writers, two painters, two dancers, a musician, a philosopher... Each of them is framed in their world, in their art, but as a whole they form a gallery that suggests a peculiar community of separate beings. There, more than what is or may be, what matters is being in this moment - or not, because it is an anonymous movement of estrangement. Figures that move between two chimeric ends: an origin, a destination.
Rivavelarde has invoked these artists and shows them at different moments of their uncertain transformations: a series of mutation processes in which faces become landscape, so that the further inside you go, the more outside you are thrown, ending up by seeing what is not there, drastically revealing what always ends up being a portrait: the contemplation of someone who was present at that moment.

About "Portrait of an Artist"
Antonio Mora
(Philosopher)

Music:
Musical direction: José Corredera
Composed and produced: José Corredera, Miguel Lázaro

Video edit:
Félix Liberato

Special thanks to:
Michael Slobodian, María Belchi, Mikolai Berg, Alexander Bard, Nacho Ares, Luis Miguel Bravo, Niclas Elvingsson

Bernardo Rivavelarde is a visual artist born in Santander (Spain).

CAREER

Rivavelarde presented in 1999 his first digital exhibition called Escuchando Imágenes (Listening to Images); a proposal to bring together art and graphic design. It offered a selection of images, animations, and interactive artworks. Listening to Images received major Spanish awards in graphic and art, such as LAUS and MOBIUS. Escuchando Imágenes was selected to be part of the exhibition Signs of the Century, 100 Years of Graphic Design in Spain (Reina Sofia Museum, Madrid), and to the exhibition Pasión, Spanish Design (Berlin).

In 2003 Rivavelarde created a new exhibition; Homodigitalis. A 30 minute animated movie divided into three parts—The Body, The Machine and The Future. Homodigitalis was screened at The National Library of Spain (Madrid). It was also exhibited in Italy, Mexico and Germany. The music was created again by The Lab.

In 2012, Rivavelarde presented his third exhibition Future Nature at the Museum Prince Felipe at The City of Arts and Sciences of Valencia, Spain. Future Nature includes images, sound landscapes, and motion graphics that show a new environment molded by new technologies. The Lab composed the sound design. The exhibition was visited by more than 1.5 million people.
Future Nature became a finalist at the 2011 Japan Media Art Festival (Tokyo) and was included in “best of the year category” at 2011 Prix Ars Electronica (Austria). At the end of 2012, Future Nature was selected to be shown in the 2012 Yota Space Festival in Saint Petersburg (Russia).

Bernardo Rivavelarde has been selected by the publisher Taschen as a leading graphic designers in Graphic Design for the 21st Century, and Contemporary Graphic Design.
He has worked for choreographer Nacho Duato, first in Spain when Nacho was the Artistic Director for Compañía Nacional de Danza and later in Germany when Duato became Artistic Director of Staatsballett Berlin. Bernardo designed (2014-2017) brand identity and communication campaigns for the Teatro de la Zarzuela (Operetta Theater, Madrid). In 2018 Bernardo designed the book: 40th Years in Images, for the Ballet Nacional de España.

In 2021 Bernardo Rivavelarde presents his new exhibition Portrait of an Artist at the Palacio de Festivales de Cantabria (Santander, Spain).

ARTISTIC WORKS

Escuchando Imágenes (Listening to images) 1998 – www.escuchandoimagenes.com

Homodigitalis 2003 - www.homodigitalis.com

Future Nature 2012 - www.futurenature.org

Portrait of an Artist 2021 - portrait.rivavelarde.com

AWARDS

Red Dot Design award 2015 (Berlin, Germany)

Future Nature selected into “best of 2011” category at the Prix Ars Electronica (Linz, Austria)

Future Nature finalist at the 2011 Japan Media Arts Festival (Tokyo, Japan)

Interactive Media Design Review (UK)

Cannes Festival (France)

LAUS (Spain)

MOBIUS (Spain)

Cámara de Comercio (Spain)