“Today I had the great fortune of discovering the wonderful work of the Russian-German artist Tania Rivilis. It is an art that from the very first moment captivates, both for its content, its technique, its composition, and its color. This is an artist who any connoisseur immediately notices has studied the great masters of the past, such as Michaelangelo, Caravaggio, Dürer, Titian, and Rubens; but also to more recent luminaries such as Oskar Kokoschka, Egon Schiele, Lucian Freud and many others.
Currently, Rivilis, who lives and works in Germany, is participating in a collective show in New York, at Arcadia Gallery, with artists like my dear friend Joshua Flint. The theme of the exhibition is The Male of the Species. The majority of the works presented in this collective by Rivilis show men in a homoerotic, sensual, and androgynous way. Other artists, such as Josh Flint, sees man in a much more traditional way: virile and athletic.

All those views are valid, because being a man encompasses all types of behavior and identifications. Apart from that art, high culture, and intelligence know no prejudice.
This is art for cultured, refined, and sophisticated people. Those hands–so beautiful–remind one of the beautiful hands of a Michaelangelo, of a Leonardo, and of the Renaissance, Baroque, and post-impressionist masters…!
Certainly, I will buy, in due course, works by this artist for my pampered collection.

These are the things no one, no one imagines, I miss from being in Boston. However, the fact that I am here in Panama, living a very simple life, does not mean that I have abandoned what I am passionate about.. I am simply enriching my life, in my own roots, with other wonderful and necessary life experiences.”

Ibis Sanchez-Serrano
Scientist, Global Health Care Expert, Art Historian, Writer

“Years ago when the hubs and I bought our EPA-condemned shack in the mountains, we gutted the entire interior – dodged a few rat carcasses careening from the rafters – and got intimately familiar with every nook and cranny of Home Depot.
That’s how I know that the OSB ‘canvas’ that Russian-German contemporary artist @tania_rivilis uses for her sublime portraits (like this one!) is also known as oriented strandboard.
Any self-respecting lady should NOT know that term, but I digress. (It was a dark period in my life heh heh. I also know how to wire electrical outlets, grout tile, and a lot of other DIY contractor-y things that I hope to never ever ever draw upon again from my vast house building skillset.)
But TANIA is **really** the star of this show. First of all, I always leap for joy when I see portraits of men, period. Sure, women are lovely but there are way too many feminine visages clogging up Instagram.
This gorgeous take on male portraiture seems sooo ravishingly poetic. And her palette makes me want to say LORDY LORDY HALLELUJAH AMEN (I’m not even 1% religious!).
But back to the OSB that Tania uses for her canvas. Basically, it’s made of tightly bonded wood chips. Lots o’ texture.
That’s why Tania’s portraiture – which is already so skillfully executed – looks extra special. In a way, she’s made the wood bend to her will!
I wanted to share 5 of her male portraits since they are all quite excellent, but I don’t want to waste them due to the speed-scrolling tendency of this platform.
So…I will meter them out over time like excellent quality chocolate. (Who am I kidding? I plow through chocky every chance I get… life’s too short to savor it for a rainy day!”
Elizah Leigh
𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫 & 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐟𝐟 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫
for @beautifulbizarremagazine