Born in 1940, Gustavo Ramos Rivera is a revered painter, sculptor, and printmaker who has worked and exhibited in San Francisco since arriving from Chihuahua, Mexico in 1969. His imagery is a unique fusion of lush colorful patterns inspired by the brightly painted and the tribal folk arts and costumes that surrounded him as a young man. He combines this with a vigorous painting style influenced by both Abstract Expressionism and Mexican Modernist painters. Rivera works in traditional oil on canvas, often creatively employing re-purposed found materials that he collages on to the surface of his paintings.

As a master printmaker, Ramos Rivera utilizes intaglio and lithography often enhancing these media with drawing and collage to create one of a kind works on paper. His work can be seen in public collections throughout the United States and Mexico including the Fine Arts Museums in San Francisco and the San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, California.