Untitled

Sophie Rivera, Untitled, 1978, printed 2006, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2011.24.2, © 1978, Sophie Rivera
Copied Sophie Rivera, Untitled, 1978, printed 2006, gelatin silver print, sheet and image: 48 x 48 in. (121.9 x 121.9 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2011.24.2, © 1978, Sophie Rivera

Artwork Details

Title
Untitled
Artist
Date
1978, printed 2006
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
sheet and image: 48 x 48 in. (121.9 x 121.9 cm)
Copyright
© 1978, Sophie Rivera
Credit Line
Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Mediums Description
gelatin silver print
Classifications
Subjects
  • Portrait male — unidentified
Object Number
2011.24.2
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2011.24.2

Artwork Description

Rivera’s monumental portraits of Puerto Ricans in New York (or Nuyoricans) counteract the stereotypes that have circulated in the mass media. The artist found her subjects by asking passersby outside her building if they were Puerto Ricans. If they said yes, she invited them to her studio and photographed them against a dark background. Rivera’s subjects remain anonymous but never powerless. Her direct photographs allow the unassuming individuality of everyday people to speak for itself.

Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art, 2013
Description in Spanish

Los retratos monumentales de Rivera de puertorriqueños en Nueva York (o nuyoricans) contrarrestan los estereotipos que han circulado en los medios masivos. La artista encontró a sus sujetos preguntándoles a quienes pasaban frente a su edificio si eran puertorriqueños. Si decían que sí, los invitaba a su estudio y los fotografiaba ante un fondo oscuro. Los sujetos de Rivera se mantienen anónimos pero nunca desprovistos de poder. Sus fotografías directas permiten que la individualidad modesta de la gente común hable por sí misma.

Nuestra América: la presencia latina en el arte estadounidense, 2013

Videos

Exhibitions

Media - 2011.12 - SAAM-2011.12_1 - 77591
Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art
October 25, 2013–March 2, 2014
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art presents the rich and varied contributions of Latino artists in the United States since the mid-twentieth century, when the concept of a collective Latino identity began to emerge.