Daniel Martin Diaz: Death Unto Life

Gallery II
Solo Exhibit

Opening reception - Saturday, April 30th, 6pm-9pm

April 30, 2005 through May 28, 2005

Daniel Martin Diaz:
Death Unto Life
On view April 30th - May 28, 2005
Opening reception: Saturday, April 30th, 2005 from 6 p.m. – 9 p.m.

Jonathan LeVine Gallery is proud to present, “Death Unto Life,” a solo exhibition of fourteen paintings, a trio of hand carved linocuts titled "Exorcism", and two zinc plate etchings, created by Tucson artist Daniel Martin Diaz.

Drawing from old masters, Jan van Eyck, Pieter Bruegal, and Hieronymus Bosch, both in subject matter and in the ancient egg tempera and resin oil painting style, Diaz’s depictions have a sincerity that exposes a seemingly endless devotion to reveal a higher meaning through painstaking craftsmanship. His use of a limited pallet on distressed wood, handmade wooden frames, and expressive use of Latin text allows Diaz’s images to thrust us into another time and place, as though resurrecting relics from the past. Diaz reflects upon the metaphysical realm in a concrete fashion in this latest series of works, which represent the transcendence of the soul into the immortal afterlife.

The artist explains, “One of my earliest memories as a child was the way death and religion played an important role in my family’s life. My parents were born in Mexico with traditional beliefs, and their beliefs made their way into my subconscious. The fact that many of those beliefs seemed to render no logical explanation has also influenced me. These unanswered questions find a home in my work, which evokes the mystery, fear and irony of those vivid memories of my past. I do not claim to understand these questions. I just paint and let them reveal themselves to me.” Beneath the stained-glass-look and tortured faces lies a depth and richness of an otherworldly spiritual dimension.

A classically trained pianist and composer, Diaz began sketching and painting between recording sessions. The self-taught artist‘s eight- year career has spawned a deluge of success and notoriety in several artistic genres. His passionate creations have been commissioned for the PBS Documentary, The Forgetting: A Portrait of Alzheimer’s, the entire CD artwork for the Atlantic Records multi-platinum band, P.O.D., and two large altar pieces for San Antonio de Padua Catholic Church in Guaymas, Mexico. In 2001, he exhibited with controversial artist, Joel Peter Witkin in Tucson, Arizona. His work has been exhibited in major cities throughout the United States and in Mexico, Austria, Italy and Australia, and has appeared in numerous art and religious magazines.