Press Release:
Anatomy of Sorrow
Paintings by Daniel Martin Diaz
Billy Shire Fine Arts
5790 Washington Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232
Exhibition: December 13, 2008 – January 3, 2009
Opening Reception: Saturday, December 13th, 7-10 pm
Like most viewers I turn to look, again, at each of Daniel Martin Diaz’s archaic yet riveting images. A second look at one painting, “Arbor Mors” peels back a layer of what its title implies. It seems to be an upheaval of the traditional tree of life. This is, instead, a tree of death. Yet, though we may be quietly horrified by this unexpected twist of something known into something frighteningly unknown, we can’t help but turn to look again. His craft as a painter is a compelling tool, as each fresh layer unfolds. This is the power of good art—that it draws us towards the artist’s vision, and causes us to willingly abandon our own worldviews, for a brief moment, to enter theirs.
Diaz’s work does not require a literary reading of titles to engage the viewer in a rich dialogue. His work operates on an ecstatic visual level. All-seeing eyes, embedded in the trunk, deviate from what might be an otherwise traditional icon of proto-typical European folk imagery. They lend a mystical aura with their Latin and Christian captions painted below one another. There are three eyes, a magic number in most mystic traditions. They are in visual dialogue with a skull, poised on a stick embedded in the exposed artery-like roots of the tree, one of a trinity (again) that lies mute upon the ground at the foot of the tree. Is the tree a stand-in for a cruciform? Other mystic symbols anchor foreground corners of the painting, drawn from the Kabbalah—or is it Masonic? As viewers, we don’t know. We can only take in this set of images so deftly painted against the glowing wash of sepia sky, itself hosting a universe of medieval stars, and trust that there is a vital question—or observation—posed here for our consideration.
It is to Diaz’s credit that he so successfully engages us in this rhetorical dialogue. The exhibit “Anatomy of Sorrow” continues to repay a viewer’s trust. It has been said that all great art must first disorient, then reorient. By this measure, Daniel Martin Diaz executes great art. —Martin Kim, Curator, Arizona State Museum
Drawing from old masters Jan van Eyck, Pieter Bruegel, and Hieronymus Bosch, both in subject matter and in the ancient egg tempera and resin oil painting technique, the works of self-taught artist and classically trained composer Daniel Martin Díaz possess a sincerity that foregrounds his deep devotion to revealing a higher meaning through painstaking craftsmanship. Through his application of a limited palette on distressed wood, his handmade wooden frames, and his expressive use of Latin text, Díaz's images thrust us into another time and place. The art of Daniel Martin Díaz has been exhibited in over 50 solo and group exhibitions in 17 states and eight countries, including three international touring exhibitions, and has been acquired for the permanent collections of nine art museums nationwide. His passionate creations have been commissioned for the PBS documentary The Forgetting: A Portrait of Alzheimer's, the CD artwork for Atlantic Records multi-platinum band P.O.D., and two large altarpieces for San Antonio de Padua Catholic Church in Guaymas, Mexico. In addition to Diaz’ extensive art client list, his music, Blind Divine has been licensed for film and television productions from MTV to the History Channel and recently has been included in the Lakeshore Records release of Clive Barker's feature film, "The Midnight Meat Train," Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.
Above Right: Elegy, 2008, Oil on Wood, 20 x 16 inches
Below RIght: Golgotha, 2008, Oil on Wood, 21.5 x 21.5 inches (frame size)
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