In 1941, he entered the School of Applied Arts and studied with Antonio Pena, Edmundo Prati, and Federico Moller de Berg [es].

In 1976 they went into exile in Mexico where, for 11 years, Anhelo worked as a cover designer for Siglo XXI Editores.

In 1989 he became a Grade 5 teacher for the Fundamental Workshop of Free Orientation of Aesthetics at the National Institute of Fine Arts (IENBA), Montevideo.

[3][4] Hernández Ríos was invited to participate as a juror at several engraving biennials of the IENBA's National Salon of Plastic Arts, to participate in round tables and to give lectures and seminars on topics of his specialty at the Autonomous University of Mexico, the National School of Plastic Arts of Mexico, the Autonomous University of Puebla in Mexico, the Museo Torres García in Montevideo, and the Uruguay Association of Psychoanalysts, among others.

He wrote several essays on Uruguayan and Mexican artists, including Joaquín Torres-García, Augusto Torres, Eva Díaz, Francisco Matto [es], and Myrna Soto, as well as multiple articles and essays on theory and artistic practices.