It was our final day in Peru. Later that evening, we would be making our way to the airport and beginning the long journey home.
After everything we had experienced—from Lima and the Sacred Valley to Machu Picchu, Cusco, Lake Titicaca and beyond—we could easily have spent our last few hours relaxing. Instead, my wife and I decided to return to Barranco and visit the Jade Rivera Lab.
I am so pleased that we did.
Barranco is Lima’s colourful, creative and slightly bohemian district. It’s attractive old buildings, independent shops, cafés and extraordinary street art give it a completely different atmosphere from other parts of the city. It was therefore the perfect setting for the work of one of Peru’s most distinctive contemporary artists.
Who is Jade Rivera?
Before visiting, I knew relatively little about Jade Rivera. I had seen some of the impressive murals around Barranco, but I had not appreciated the story behind them or the breadth of his work.
Born in Huancayo, Peru in 1983, Jade Rivera is a self-taught muralist, painter and designer. He apparently began painting when he was just seven years old, later drawing inspiration from hip-hop culture and the graffiti movement of the 1990s.
His work has now been exhibited in more than 15 countries, yet it remains unmistakably connected to Peru, its people and the natural world.
Jade Rivera’s paintings are often described as magical realism, although that simple description doesn’t really do them justice. His work combines beautifully painted human figures—often children—with birds, animals, masks and dreamlike imagery.
There is something gentle and almost peaceful about many of the images, but they also encourage you to stop and think. Themes of childhood, identity, nature, freedom and our connection with the environment appear throughout his work.
You don’t necessarily need to understand every symbol. In fact, part of the enjoyment comes from standing in front of each piece and deciding what it means to you.
More than simply looking at paintings
The word “Lab” is appropriate because this doesn’t feel like a conventional, formal art gallery where you quietly walk from one framed painting to another.
It feels more like entering the artist’s imagination.
The atmospheric rooms, murals, sculptures and smaller details all work together to create an experience. Some pieces immediately draw your attention, while others reveal themselves more gradually.
I found myself constantly reaching for my camera. Every time I thought I had taken enough photographs, I noticed another detail, unusual angle or combination of colours that I wanted to capture.
Fortunately, I had plenty of memory left on my camera because I took loads of photographs!
As someone who enjoys photography, I loved the way the lighting, colours and layout complemented the artwork. There were opportunities for close-up photographs of the finer details, but also wider views that showed how the art interacted with the building itself.
It was enormously photogenic, but this is artwork that deserves more than a quick photograph before moving on. There were several occasions when I lowered the camera and simply stood looking.
Children, animals and imagination
One of the most recognisable features of Jade Rivera’s work is the relationship between people and animals.
Birds appear frequently, sometimes as masks and sometimes almost as companions or spiritual guides. The human figures can appear thoughtful, vulnerable or lost in their own imagination.
I was particularly struck by the expressions on the faces. They are beautifully painted but rarely straightforward. There is often a sense that the subject is thinking about something much deeper than we can see.
Some of the paintings feel hopeful; others are slightly melancholic. Yet even the more serious pieces retain a sense of beauty.
Perhaps that is one of the reasons I enjoyed the exhibition so much. The work doesn’t tell you exactly what to think. It leaves space for your own interpretation.
Art that feels unmistakably Peruvian
During our journey through Peru, we had encountered art and craftsmanship almost everywhere.
We had seen brightly coloured textiles, traditional clothing, carefully carved objects and communities preserving skills passed down through generations. We had also experienced the enormous pride Peruvians have in their history, landscape and cultural identity.
Jade Rivera’s work is contemporary, but it still feels deeply rooted in that same country.
His pictures are not traditional representations of Peru’s famous tourist attractions. You won’t simply find paintings of Machu Picchu or llamas created for visitors to take home as souvenirs.
Instead, his work explores something more personal: the relationship between people, the land, the natural world and their own imagination.
After travelling through so much of Peru, I felt we could recognise some of those connections. The faces, colours, animals and sense of storytelling all seemed to belong to the country we had been exploring.
A fitting final experience
There was something particularly appropriate about visiting Jade Rivera Lab on our last day.
Our Peruvian journey had been filled with spectacular places. We had stood looking across Machu Picchu, travelled through the Andes, visited indigenous communities and experienced landscapes that were completely different from anything at home.
Yet some of the most memorable moments had come from meeting people and discovering how they expressed their history, beliefs and relationship with the world around them.
Jade Rivera’s artwork seemed to bring many of those ideas together.
As we walked around the exhibition, I found myself thinking back over the journey we had just completed. It is strange how quickly several weeks of travelling can pass. At the beginning, everything lies ahead of you; then suddenly you are packing your cases and checking what time you need to leave for the airport.
Visiting the Jade Rivera Lab gave us one final opportunity to slow down, look carefully and absorb a little more of Peru before leaving.
Would I recommend Jade Rivera Lab?
Absolutely.
You don’t need to be an expert in contemporary art to enjoy it. I’m certainly not. You simply need to be curious and prepared to spend a little time looking beyond the obvious.
The exhibition is imaginative, emotional, beautifully presented and very different from the more traditional museums and galleries we had visited.
If you enjoy art, photography or discovering something that feels genuinely connected to the place you are visiting, Jade Rivera Lab should certainly be included during a day in Barranco.
The Lab is located at Avenida San Martín 141 in Barranco. It forms part of Jade Rivera’s wider artistic world, which connects his paintings, murals, sculptures, limited editions and creative experiences.
Barranco was already one of my favourite parts of Lima. After visiting Jade Rivera Lab, I appreciated it even more.
It was our final attraction, on our final day, at the end of an extraordinary journey through Peru—and it turned out to be one of those unexpected experiences that stays with you.
Sometimes the best way to finish an adventure is not with another famous landmark, but with something quieter, more personal and completely unexpected.
Jade Rivera Lab was exactly that. Check out their website Jade Rivera Lab
