GUSTAVO RIMADA
Colorful Heritage
Gustavo Rimada was born in Mexico and moved with his family to California when he was 7. His mother, a doctor in Mexico and a housekeeper in California, encouraged him in his art long before he decided to make it his career.
During a four-year stint in the U.S. Army, “art took a backseat,” he says. “Dabbling here and there, but nothing serious. It really wasn’t until about two years after the Army that I was given two huge pieces of MDO board to paint on. It was truly the beginning of my journey back into art.
“My heart and hand took over. I sketched, I painted till late in the night. Painting on everything from shoes to bags, to just about anything,” he continues. “In less than a month I filled a sketchbook full of Elvgren pinups and Olivia paintings. Soon after all that, I started working at a tattoo shop. The tattoo world inspired my artwork with a whole new life and passion. The knowledge and history of the industry was incredible to me.”
An exhibition of his paintings will be held at Haven Gallery in Northport, New York, October 5 through November 3.
His finely crafted paintings often refer to the Día de los Muertos tradition that he remembers celebrating as a kid in Mexico. With a revival of the tradition in the U.S., he began to honor it in his work. He says, “I try to use the colors of the Oaxaca area and I incorporate the colors the Mexican architect Luis Barragán used in his buildings. One of the first birthday presents I remember was a cassette by Queen, which has been a big influence. When the film Bohemian Rhapsody
came out last year, I wanted to honor Freddie Mercury in a painting. Two of the signatures in my paintings are the tiger swallowtail butterfly and the anatomical heart, so I turned his mic into a heart.”
His painting Ancestor features a likeness of the Cheyenne Chief Wolf Robe, thought to be the model for the portrait on the U.S. nickel. Rimada joined a group of veterans at Standing Rock where he did some sketches and unfinished paintings that may make their way into his later work.
His painting ideas are more often verbal than visual, written down on paper and tacked to his studio wall. “I can be listening to a song and get an idea that I write down,” says the artist. “Sometimes I’ll do a study, but most often I’ll sketch in pencil on a gessoed board and start in painting. I get too excited and just want to paint.”