JC Rivera: The Bear Champ

JC Rivera is a Puerto Rican-born Chicago-based mural and graffiti artist, who became internationally recognized as the creator of the “Bear Champ” mural. The Bear Champ is a trademark fictional yellow bear with boxing gloves, created by JC Rivera. Today, one may come across this widely recognized work while walking in the streets of Milan or driving through Kansas City.

One place where you will definitely find murals of Rivera’s “Bear Champ” is in Chicago, where the Puerto Rican artist started his career as an artist. He was born in the town of Ponce, to a highly artistic family, but recounts in an interview with Inteligencia that none of his artistically skilled family members ever managed to make a career out of it.

After moving to Orlando, Florida later in his early youth, Rivera began making money off of his creative talents. Upon discovering that a Mac he had bought from a pawn store still had Photoshop installed on it, he quickly used the opportunity to hone his digital art skills. Very soon, he had created a portfolio of logos which brought him some recognition as a logo designer.

However, it wasn’t until he moved to Chicago that he realized his true calling. In the Windy City, known for its street art, hip hop fashion, and graffiti culture, he became a part of the tight-knit street art community. As his influences and network evolved, so did his art.

However, after a few years of collaborating with other Chicago-based artists, JC Rivera wanted to create something that was uniquely his own. It was then that he resurrected a sketch of an old yellow bear and began working on it tirelessly to incorporate it into a number of different artworks.

To his disappointment, he did not get a good reception during the exhibition of his initial paintings of the bear at a gallery. Soon after, however, Rivera seems to have been hit by a stroke of artistic genius. He took to the streets with a graffiti crew and began making large-scale murals of the yellow bear on various walls of Chicago.

Ever since then, not only has the artist moved up in the world, but the “Bear Champ” has become an adored character for thousands of his followers, for whom Rivera continues to depict his trademark bear in ever-evolving ways.

The Bear Champ has always worn boxing gloves, which, along with its scruffy appearance, gives the bear an impression of a ‘survivor’. The Bear Champ is a symbol of Chicago. It represents the relentless ambition and drive of its residents, despite the constant struggles they face. Rivera has used the bear to comment about identity and socio-economic power in the city, depicting the character in various ways, but always alluding to its toughness and grit.

The Bear Champ has featured nationally and internationally in galleries and esteemed publications, as well as shirts, stickers, and even pizza boxes. Rivera even plans on turning the character into an animated series one day. Either way, you don’t want to miss out on what JC Rivera has in store for his followers next.