Review

"City Rain", Acrylic on Canvas.

Jennifer Rivera
40

9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Apex Art Space
(Crossroads Dentistry)
1819 Wyandotte Street
Kansas City, MO
816.841.0206

Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday (except holidays), 6-9 p.m. First Fridays and Jan. 8 special reception.
Runs through: Jan. 31

Artist's site: http://www.jennifer-rivera-art.blogspot.com
Gallery site: http://www.apexartspace.com

There's a reason that clichés are ... well,  clichés. That reason? More often than not, they're true — in some way, at least.

Take the classic adage that Life begins at 40.

It's certainly true of Jennifer Rivera's life as a producing artist — hence the title of her show, 40, which is on display at Apex Gallery (inside the Crossroads Dentistry office of J. Daniel Fleming) through the end of January.

Rivera was interested in art through high school and college but set that aside to raise her family. But when she turned 40, she returned to her roots. The result: colorful abstract acrylic paintings, rich in emotional and physical texture.

The works in 40 fall into three basic categories: pure abstracts, abstracts with visual elements which match their titles, and paintings with representational imagery over abstract backgrounds.

City Rain, pictured above, falls into the middle category. The blue-gray streaks suggest sheets of rain, while the raised areas evoke droplets clinging to, say, the windshield of a car.

Visually, 40 provides a lovely — and seamless — transition from Clint Metcalf's two-month run at Apex. There is enough similarity in their styles to provide a strong feeling of continuity -- but there's a world of difference between resemblance and sameness. The self-taught Rivera's vision is all her own, and so is her execution of it.

It's tempting to wonder what might have been had Rivera stuck with art through her years of putting family first. Then again, who knows? She might have gotten tired of it by now.

In her case, though, absence made the heart grow fonder ... until there was nothing she could do but give in to that long-denied affection.

Yes, the "absence" bit is another cliché. But if it's true — and it resulted in the creation of Rivera's color-forward  acrylics — then it's a cliché artist and viewer alike can embrace.

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