Raised in the Bronx, Richard Alvarez became part of New York’s East Village art scene as a teenager. For over a decade he worked as a stylist for Patricia Field and fashion designers. A self-taught artist, Alvarez turned to painting, using glass and picture frames as a canvas. His work refers to iconography from Santeria and Catholic religions that surrounded him as a child, and these themes are expressed in his work through the disparate styles of Renaissance painting, the 1980’s Manhattan underground, and the kitsch aesthetic of Latino culture. Currently working in Brooklyn, Alvarez has participated in installations, as well as group and solo shows in the New York area.

"I’ve been compared with other artists who use religious imagery in their work, sometimes in a way that is offensive to believers. Given my past, my complete negation of all faith in childhood and my return to it years later, my paintings cannot have that same meaning – they are actually about belief and glorification." – RA

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