Occupation Artist and Writer | Name Riva Lehrer | |
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Born 1958 Cincinnati, Ohio Education School of the Art Institute of Chicago | ||
Riva lehrer a self portrait in formaldehyde
Riva Lehrer (born in 1958 in Cincinnati, Ohio) is an American painter, writer, teacher, and speaker. Lehre] was born with spina bifida and has undergone numerous surgeries throughout her life. Her work focuses on issues of physical identity and the socially challenged body, especially in explorations of cultural depictions of disability. Lehrer is well known as both an artist and an activist in the field of Disability Culture.
Contents
- Riva lehrer a self portrait in formaldehyde
- Valuable bodies riva lehrer tedxgrandrapids
- Early life
- Career
- Teaching Experience
- Circle Stories
- Other Series
- Exhibits
- Awards achievements and recognitions
- References
Valuable bodies riva lehrer tedxgrandrapids
Early life
Her early education took place at Condon School for Handicapped Children, which was one of the first schools in the United States to offer a standardized education to disabled children. She had many surgeries in her early life to render her body more "normal". Living a huge part of her childhood in the hospital, she got an intimate view of medicine and this has helped her in her career as an educator and an artist. In 1980, she moved to Chicago, where she has lived and exhibited ever since.
Career
Her work focuses on people's physical identity as well as political themes, especially in regards to disability. After moving to Chicago, she encountered the works of other artists, joined a disabled artist group, and began one of her best known series the Circle Stories. Currently Lehrer is the Curator for Cultural Programs at Access Living of Chicago and an auxiliary professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her interest in anatomy originally led her to consider a career in medicine but due to the lack of accommodations she soon felt this goal was unrealistic.
Instead she decided on an art career where she had more control over things like her schedule, but where she could still “prove her interests in biology and medicine”. Her works on a whole are meant to reject the idea of pity and inspire a new way of thinking about the beauty of disabilities. The complexity of her works represents the complexity of the lives of her disabled subjects. They are not tragic images of suffering but rather images of life and living. She uses realism and detail to draw the subjects the way they are; no exaggerations and no cover-ups. She simply shows the body as it is and allows the beauty to speak for itself.
Teaching Experience
School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Adjunct Professor, 2000-current University of Illinois Free School Workshops, 2014 Northwestern University, Medical Humanities. Seminar instructor. 2012-current. University of Illinois at Chicago, Department of Medical Humanities. Visiting Artist and Instructor, Gross Anatomy Laboratory 2003-2006 Evanston Art Center, 1992-2002 Acrylic Paint Technical Advisor. Dick Blick Art Supplies. Golden Paints
Circle Stories
Riva Lehrer began the Circle Stories series in 1997 and continued expanding it until 2004. The title to this group of portraits comes from the methods of their creation, including multiple interviews and collaborations between Lehrer and the subjects, to create an accurate representation of their life. This collection shows the achievements and spirit of the subjects while paying homage to the original group of disabled artists that Lehrer joined. The subjects of these portraits are seen in a setting of their choice whether it is realistic or not. The professions and disabilities of these subjects vary greatly and are not all directly shown in some of the works. Many of these portraits fall under the category of Magic Realism. This type of art is where “Improbable and fantastical elements are combined with realistic elements, deeply embedding the two opposite and contradictory forces”. Lehrer, like may artists before her, uses this style of art to comment on social inequalities and prejudices she sees. Lehrer also uses this style to express a particular mood sometimes of pain and darkness and other times of healing or release. Every portrait is unique in its message and in its tone, but each work together to tell a story about disabilities and disability culture as a whole while honoring the “community of disabled innovators who provide support and context for the work of redefinition of disability in the 21st century".
Other Series
Lehrer's If Body series stems from the fact that people tend to visualize what they are going to look like at an older age and how that image can change over time. The pieces themselves represent her personal ideals about her body and how those ideals have changed over time. “The self-portraits of If Body series chart this schism between the imaginary “normal” body I imagine I “should” have had, and my relationship to my subjective “actual” body”.
The Family series breaks the stereotype or myth that disabled people are loners and shows that people, disabled or not, form links, connections, and relationships with others. Lehrer explains “The Family drawings are an ongoing document of my own community of belonging. Some are blood relations, others are people who I consider part of my survival. They are a testament to the power that human beings have to transform each others lives”.
The Totems and Familiars series is about people's objects of power (totems) and animal alter ego(familiars). These images show the subject's, both disabled and non-disabled, internal source of strength and how this strength can relate to their external character.