These new paintings, beginning with The Structure Series, were inspired by the urban environment that surrounds me. These paintings are a platform for the creative states that I experience as an artist and a human being. The Totem Series, Ribbon Series and The Stripe Series, offshoots of The Structure Series, investigate congregated and communal geometric forms. Through the use of pattern and repetition I am able to formulate a cohesive and opposing balance which perpetuates movement and tension on the playing field. The most recent works portray some of the emotional turmoil and isolation experienced during the pandemic.
The Structure Series has become a metaphor for our conflicting times. Social, political, personal, and economic upheaval is always experienced, processed, and then restructured. These paintings examine the constructs of intellect and emotion through the repetitive use of the square, how it is presented and organized, and how color characterizes the psychology of the works. The honed images from my visual vocabulary are made using only straight edges, tape and palette knife. I also play with the sounds and structural cacophony that inhabits the works in order to feel their strong presence and voice.
Iris Kufert-Rivo is a geometric painter with a studio at Mana Contemporary in Jersey City, NJ. She received her Bachelor of Science from Skidmore College and a Master of Fine Arts from Bard College. The Structure Series explores pattern and repetition of forms inspired by the urban community in which she lives. The painting process is paramount to her creative experience. Made without the use of a brush, Iris uses palette knives and straight edges to propel the pieces forward. These works relate closely to the artists’ observance of the world she lives in and the climate of the culture around us.
EDUCATION
MFA Painting, Bard College, Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts, Annandale-on-Hudson,
NY
BS Studio Art, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019 Hidell Brooks Gallery, Charlotte, NC: Intro Show
2019 George Billis Gallery LA, Los Angeles, CA
2019 Dune-NY, New York, NY: Structure Series
2015 George Billis Gallery LA, Los Angeles, CA: Can Travel
2015 artsy.net: www.artsy.net/artist/iris-kufert-rivo
2010 Mana Contemporary, Jersey City, NJ: Gnome Banner Project
2009 Brunswick Window, Jersey City, NJ: Fawn Meets Fauna
2007 Jersey City Museum at The Majestic, Jersey City, NJ: Subtext: On Cultural Iconography
2005 Wedgeworks Gallery, Hoboken, NJ
2004 Windows on Columbus, Jersey City , NJ: Mack-Cali Presents
2002 Johnson & Johnson World Headquarters, Inc., New Brunswick, NJ: Near Eastern
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023 L’Space Gallery, NYC: Art for Healing
2023 Design Industry for Peace (online)
2023 Design on a Dime, NYC
2022 George Billis Gallery LA, Los Angeles, CA: Geometric Abstractions (2 person show)
2022 Waterhouse & Dodd, NYC: Visible - Invisible: Four Female Abstract Artists
2022 George Billis Gallery LA: San Francisco Art Market
2022 Palm Beach Show, FL: Waterhouse & Dodd
2021 Art Miami: Waterhouse & Dodd, Miami, FL
2021 Waterhouse & Dodd, NYC: Flowing Forms
2021 Village One Space, NYC: Exquisite Planes
2021 Mayor's Office, City Hall, Jersey City, NJ
2021 Mason Exhibition Space, Hoboken, NJ: Many Hands: One Voice
2020 Galeri Soho, Vasteras, Sweden: International Online Exhibition
2020 Ghost Harbor Creative, Asbury Park, NJ
2020 One Westend Gallery, New York, NY
2020 Painting Center, New York, NY: New Optics
2019 Red Dot Art Fair Miami, George Billis Gallery LA, Miami, FL
2019 Art Market SF, George Billis Gallery LA, San Francisco, CA
2019 Decentralized, Mana Contemporary Jersey City, NJ
2018 DT234 Gallery, Jersey City, NJ: Women's Group Show
2018 Flux Gallery, NYC: The New Non
2018 Drawing Rooms, Jersey City, NJ: Somewhere Over the Interconnected Rainbow
2017 Newel Gallery, New York, NY
2017 KH Art Projects Exhibition, 12 East 88th Street Gallery, New York, NY
2016 Dineen-Hull Gallery, Hudson Community College, Jersey City, NJ
2015 ESKFF 2015 Annual Auction/AxA Fundraiser, Mana Contemporary, Jersey City, NJ
2015 Red Dot Art Fair Miami, George Billis Gallery LA, Miami FL
2014 Red Dot Art Fair Miami, George Billis Gallery LA, Miami FL
2014 Seton Hall Law School Art Gallery, Newark, NJ: Now You See Me
2014 Parlor Gallery, Asbury Park, NJ: Love U More Than Fireworks
2014 Drawing Rooms, Jersey City, NJ: Automatic/Systematic
2014 B. Beamsderfer Gallery, Highland Park, NJ: Metro 30
2014 CWOW, Newark, NJ: Metro 30- Celebrating 30 Years of Art on the Move
2013 Mana Contemporary, Jersey City, NJ: The Originals
2012 Arts Guild of Rahway, Rahway, NJ: Evolution: 20@10
2008 545 Washington, Jersey City, NJ: Lifecycle
2008 Victory Arts Projects at 77 Hudson, Jersey City, NJ: Au Natural
2007 The Ben Shahn Center Galleries, William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ: Fire and Ash
2005 Mana Fine Arts, Jersey City, NJ: The Chair Show
2003 Morris Museum, Morristown, NJ: New Jersey Fine Arts Annual
2003 Morris Museum, Morristown, NJ: Curator’s Choice Exhibition
CURATORIAL PROJECTS
125 First Street Gallery, Jersey City, NJ: “Cloud Nine”
Henry Street Settlement/Abrons Art Center, New York, NY: “Tangents: Connecting the Classroom to the Studio”
The Gallery at 180 Maiden Lane, New York, NY: “Our Backyard: Young Artists Exploring New York City”
CATALOGUE
The Painting Center, New York, NY: “New Optics”
Flux Gallery, NYC: "The New Non"
Arts Guild of Rahway, Rahway, NJ: “Evolution: 2010”
545 Washington, Jersey City, NJ: “Lifecycle”
Victory Arts Projects at 77 Hudson, Jersey City, NJ: “Au Natural”
The Arts Guild of Rahway, Rahway, NJ: “Menagerie”
The Ben Shahn Center Galleries, William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ: “Fire and Ash”
Victory Hall, Jersey City, NJ : “Reverence for All Living Creatures”
Morris Museum, Morristown, NJ: “Curator’s Choice Exhibition“
COLLECTIONS
Universal Music, NYC, NY; Johnson & Johnson Corporate Art Program, New Brunswick, NJ; Iron Monkey Restaurant, JerseyCity, NJ; Boxtree Construction, Inc., New York, NY; smarter.net; quirky.com; and other private collections