Javier Riera

Javier Riera, born 1964 in Avilés, Asturias, is an installation artist who works with light projections to create ephemeral and breathtaking works. Riera designs the light projections himself, mainly working with geometric shapes that give the landscape a sculptural quality. For Riera, “Everything that happens in the landscape could be described and explained in terms of mathematics, physics and geometry, just the same as in the aspects of invisible but quantifiable energy.” 

Besides geometric shapes, Riera often uses silhouettes of deer in his projections. In the artist’s words, “Frequently present in prehistoric paintings, throughout history the deer acquires a strong symbolism, relating it with the tree-shape, the mystic of the light, and concepts of cyclical renovation.” The deer stand as a testament to the resilience of the natural world but also as a symbol of humans’ desire to control nature, as deer are one of human’s most hunted animals, both for food and for sport. 

These elements of the prehistoric, the natural, and the cyclical, are essential to Riera’s work as he attempts to illustrate and provoke an examination of the relationships between humans and the natural world. The geometric patterns that he uses become symbolic of the order that humans attempt to impose on the world, as well as representative of the underlying systems that exist in nature. 

Meant to be seen and experienced in person, Riera’s photographs act as a record of the event. 

Riera has had his work installed in several public parks, museums, and other institutions, and has been collected by several major museums, including the Reina Sofia in Madrid.