Michael Rivera Roxbury artist Michael Rivera’s spontaneous, often humorous commentaries on himself, society and the world around him provide the theme for the current exhibition of his recent paintings running through June 13 at the Good News Cafe & Gallery. Mr. Rivera’s show, “BrainWaves,” features selections from his vibrantly illustrative acrylic paintings on wood of diverse subjects typically interpreted with a playful twist reflecting the artist’s response to his world. Among his signature pieces on display are the delightful “Illuminati” series in the Radio Room and his whimsical self-portraits in the main dining room. His show at Good News demonstrates his skill and imagination in working with mixed media, evidenced in works such as “Sunyata” and “Square” in the bar, “2,597 Squares…” in the Radio Room and “The Wheel of Life” in the main dining room. “My paintings are visual commentaries on unlimited subject matter like political events, social and cultural observations, personal musings, and occasional self-deprecations,” Mr. Rivera observes. “Each work symbolizes an idea beyond the painted object, an idea or a feeling. For example, the rings on a tree stump are the rings of experience one accumulates throughout one’s life, and seashells are my mother’s memories of poverty in Cuba.” Born in the Bronx, NY, and reared in Sarasota, Florida, Mr. Rivera received a fine arts degree at Syracuse University in 1995 and worked for several years at Christie’s and Phillips de Pury & Luxembourg art auction houses in New York. He earned a master of fine arts in sculpture at Purchase College/SUNY in 2004, and currently serves as a lecturer and visiting artist at Purchase College and an instructor at the Brookfield Craft Center. Recent exhibitions of his nature-based sculpture have been staged at the Minor Memorial Library in Roxbury and the Maass Gallery at Purchase College. While his sculpture works involve “media that have a much longer process and are compatible with the works’ nature-based themes,” his paintings in acrylic on wood “allow me to pictorialize my ideas in a fairly expedient way,” he says. “I like color straight from the tube without mixing. The plasticity of acrylic, the numerous choices of color, and its fast drying time are attractive to me. In the same vein, I like using ballpoint pens, pastels, graphite and oil-paint pens. I generally continue to paint onto the edges of the wood canvas as a reminder of the canvas’ limitations.” The theme that unites Mr. Rivera’s wide-ranging subjects in the current Good News exhibition is the personality and worldview of the artist himself. “The paintings’ comic illustrative style reflects my quirky sensibility and humor,” Mr. Rivera says. “Even though the work has a comic aesthetic, it is not reducible to one-liners. A bit of cynicism and sarcasm can be detected in some of the pieces as well.” The image shown above, "Illuminati No. 1," is one of five acrylic & paint pen paintings in Mr. Rivera's "Illuminati" series included among the 35 works featured in his Good News exhibition.