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Kenny Rivero’s (b. 1981, New York, NY) practice spans painting, collage, drawing, and sculpture, and consistently examines the complexity of identity through narrative imagery, language, and symbolism. His work seeks to deconstruct the histories and identities he inherited and re-engineer them into new, reimagined wholes. Throughout his process, Rivero engages with what he perceives as the fragmented narrative of Dominican American identity—considering socio-geographic solidarity, familial expectations, race, and gender roles. He cites the hybrid musical forms of salsa, hip-hop, house, jazz, and merengue—as well as Vodun and Santeria, which shaped his upbringing—as core influences on his studio decision-making.

Rivero lives and works in New York. He received an MFA from Yale University School of Art (2012) and a BA from the School of Visual Arts (2006). Rivero is the recipient of numerous awards and residencies, including the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Grant (2018) and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture Residency (2017). Recent institutional solo exhibitions include The Floor is Crooked, The Momentary, Bentonville, AR (2021); Palm Oil, Rum, Honey, Yellow Flowers, Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, VT (2021); Walk Wit Me, Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center, Buffalo, NY (2021); and Two Truths (with Laylah Ali), Esther Massry Gallery at the College of Saint Rose, Albany, NY (2020). His work is held in the permanent collections of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art; The Studio Museum in Harlem; El Museo del Barrio; The Whitney Museum of American Art; The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Thomas J. Watson Library); The Baltimore Museum of Art; The Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University; ICA Miami; and Pérez Art Museum Miami.