Rogelio Diaz and Alvaro Zardoni at Galleria Dante
 PVNN
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| | On December 19th, Galleria Dante's "Meet the Artists Night" will feature two talented Mexican artists who incorporate an element of fantasy into their art: Rogelio Diaz and Alvaro Zardoni. To see some of the other art works on display at Galeria Dante, visit GalleriaDante.com. |
Galleria Dante's 3rd "Meet the Artists Night" of the 2007/2008 Puerto Vallarta art season will feature two talented Mexican artists who incorporate an element of fantasy into their art: Rogelio Diaz and Alvaro Zardoni.
Rogelio Diaz - His art dominates. No one can pass by one of his paintings without wanting to study it a little more. We get caught between the message, the strong colors, the richness of texture and format, but mostly by his "naïf expressionism" style, which concludes with the fact that behind each piece is the artist - a child with a great sense of humor and undeniable talent.
If Rogelio is anything, it's intense, in both appearance and in his art. I feel pain, I paint and disfigure and in decomposition I find truth and self-definition. Who is it? Rogelio Díaz.
As in a riddle, his work has the same surprising effect, like a game that suddenly turns nasty, like a little Red Riding Hood who ends up munching the big bad wolf, and in this child-like and morbid duality, from the monstrous to the silly, tender and icy, profound and fibbing, Rogelio lives life intensely.
He declares himself in the path of expressionism and figurative art, though really he prefers to talk about Velázquez, the artist who painted even the air, and Rubens' voluminous passion. He speaks of his first years at the workshop of the River Cuale and jokingly refers to them as his "anti-professional period."
His first public exhibition, so to speak, was the invitation cards he prepared for his sister's wedding. An uncomely, yet beautiful, silhouette of a flamenco woman appears, which prompts him to remember those years when he could hardly survive as a painter. Now a family man and successful artist, he looks back on those days as his lyrical age, when he gave up everything to paint. His mystical mood leads him to mention the Huichol Indians, whom he describes as "nice guys," and none, he pinpoints, are bold.
What is it in a Huichol that makes him so uncomplicatedly pure? For this self-taught artist, the answer and path is clear: a return to the spontaneity of childhood in communion with real needs and desires.
Following this notion, he is particularly interested in the imaginative world of children as it is less culturally conditioned. Depriving his images of beauty, he becomes almost enraptured in a feverish catharsis. He likes to undo, unlearn and deconstruct, stirring the viewer's emotional awareness and consciousness, where a mutilated body seems invisible, through its imposing brutal presence.
With piercing reds, blacks and yellows, he paints an eclectic smile, cancan boots, infantile scribbles surrounding 'A Pair of Dancers in Eternal Spring,' which, though grotesque, seem happy and pristine. His provocative images, rooted in Mexico's ancient indigenous culture, take you on a trip to the primitive and the private, where one senses a déjà-vu, something distant, yet primal like a sweet murmur, a giggling smile or a cold shiver. And, like in a storybook as well, he particularly enjoys titling his pictures, where he conveys his sense of humor and intent with a beginning and a very unruly end. His has a unique style, which has definitely been influenced by Picasso and Basquiat.
Rogelio believes that we all have something of a child within us. The older we grow, the closer we come to returning to the innocence of childhood. There is little room for middle ground among his audience, but collectors who would have never considered his works in years past have now become fond admirers of his work. In 2005 Rogelio was chosen as "Best Visual Artist" in Vallarta Lifestyle's Reader's Choice Awards.
Alvaro Zardoni - was born in Mexico City's Colonia Roma. He also lived in Michigan in the early 80's where he improved on his spoken English. He is an architect by profession, graduating in 1987.
He studied painting from 1975 to 1988. He is a self trained sculptor, who has developed a very personal style and technique. He has had numerous expositions and is in private collections in a multitude of countries.
Every year he creates a new series. One year was his "Imaginary Portraits," another year the "Zodiac" and this year, a series of "Cyclops." His sculptures are classical in their figurative style, but incorporate an element of fantasy and inventiveness that brings to life the ancient tradition of bronze portraiture. Using common found objects, Zardoni personalizes the characters whose faces he sculpts - giving them horns and headpieces, hairstyles and other ingenious accessories.
Zardoni's fine craftsmanship and creative use of paint and patina transform the bronze into jewels of contemporary figurative sculpture, faces imbued with psychological intrigue and latent emotion. His subjects are somewhat solemn in expression, but each reveals a playful twist - even an element of irreverence to the formal medium in which Zardoni works-through the imaginative addition of various materials, including, remarkably, chocolates and feathers.
The "Imaginary Portraits" is a collection of bronze sculptures that look to analyze different moods, emotions and sensations. These are a group of men & women, of different races, in whom he has tried to shape the physiological depth of all human beings.
To each sculpture is added an external element which serves to reinforce the concept that gave origin to his ideas. Each external element acts like a key, along with the title, to discover the human part of the diverse mythological or legendary beings that have been the inspiration of these heads. These personages appear shaven, even the women, to omit the perceived perceptions of occupation, gender, social position, time, fashion, etc, which after all are distractions of more profound questions that concern us all, such as pain, sorrow, desires, laughter, happiness, etc..
In the "Cyclops" series, Alvaro analyzes in-depth the human face and displays a refined irony in these mythological giants with a single eye in the middle of the forehead. The eye replaced with a coin, plays with the inherent expressions of man: envy, anguish, joy and the fight to obtain the balance between the spirit and the contemporary material world that over powers us. We question of our selves: "Who are we?"
Be sure to stop by Galleria Dante on Wednesday, December 19th between 6 and 10 pm for a cocktail reception where you can view the fabulous art works of these two wonderful and inventive artists, while enjoying an evening of friends and fun.
Open Mon-Fri from 10 am-5 pm, Galeria Dante is located at Basilio Badillo 269 in Puerto Vallarta's Romantic Zone. For more information, call 222-2477, or send an email to info(at)galleriadante.com. To see some of the art work on display at Galeria Dante, visit GalleriaDante.com. |
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Vallarta Living | Art Talk | December 2007 
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