Revision of Eric Rivera Barbeito from Thu, 05/25/2017 - 20:03

About Eric

Baltimore City

Eric Rivera Barbeito was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico and received his BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2017. Rivera Barbeito integrates a multimedia approach to his practice that draws from a diverse field of processes to give visual representation to concepts relevant to the present condition between Puerto Rico and the United States. Rivera Barbeito currently lives and works in Baltimore, was an Artist-in-Residence at the Vermont Studio Center and has been included in… more

View Eric's Resume

Gracias + Reconstrucción

Gracias (2017), a site-specific structure that resembles a small shed, makes use of standard tropical architectural imagery and an attached air conditioning unit to portray ineffective design. Its walls, made to mimic concrete ornamental blocks commonly found in the Caribbean fail to contain the cooled air that the unit provides. The air conditioning unit, in turn, derives its power from a larger structure that dwarfs Gracias, and reiterates the persistent colonial relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States.

Defying the reeling economic crisis and more recent setbacks brought by Hurricane María, many Puerto Ricans are leading incredible efforts in reinventing and redefining standard systems of operation in the island. Reconstrucción (2018) takes a cue from these efforts, repurposing pieces from Gracias, to focus on how Puerto Rico can and will rebuild itself out of the remains of what María destroyed, led not by governments but by the ambitious and passionate individuals who want a better future for their home

Gracias

plywood, pine, poplar, paint, metal roofing, a/c unit, extension cord. 5’ x 5’ x 7’ (2017)
Gracias (Detail)

plywood, pine, poplar, paint, metal roofing, a/c unit, extension cord. 5’ x 5’ x 7’ (2017)
Gracias (Detail)

plywood, pine, poplar, paint, metal roofing, a/c unit, extension cord. 5’ x 5’ x 7’ (2017)
Reconstrucción

plywood, maple, paint. 6’ 3" x 2’ 9" x 5’ 4" (2018)
Reconstrucción (Detail)

plywood, maple, paint. 6’ 3" x 2’ 9" x 5’ 4" (2018)
Reconstrucción (Detail)

plywood, maple, paint. 6’ 3" x 2’ 9" x 5’ 4" (2018)

Selected Sculptural Work

Nube

fir, maple. 42” x 36” x 29, (2018) Nube is a visual condensation of natural cataclysms. It remarks on the devastation left in Puerto Rico by the passing of Hurricane María, and considers the increasing severity of these “acts of god” as the result of human-driven climate change.
Vieques

fir, walnut, pine, acrylic, paper. 34" x 6.5" x 6.5" (2018) Vieques is a representation of the compounded damage of the US Navy’s occupation of the Puerto Rican island municipality the work is named after. After 60 years of utilizing large swaths of the island for regular bomb testing, the island's population faces lingering detrimental health effects even after the Navy's departure in 2003.
Fence (Green Zone)

painted plywood, flocked paper, MDF. 5" x 13.5" 10" (2018) Fence is a play on the many connotations the word has within United States politics. Initially a derisive comment on the pro-statehood campaigns in Puerto Rico, it took on new meaning after reading Naomi Klein’s The Shock Doctrine a year later. It remarks on the citadel established in Baghdad by the United States armed forces, and the lucrative private contracts that fulfill all the basic services expected of a regular municipality.
Oficial

paper clips. 8.25" x 3.5" (2018)
Screen

plywood, maple. 5' x 5' x 3" (2017)
Bound

red oak, poplar, plywood, latex, screws. 6’ x 2’ x 5” (2017)
Grama

laminated plywood, flocked paper. 11" x 8" x 4" (2017)
Arco Parcha

laminated plywood, acrylic. 18” x 30” x 5” (2017)