Art exhibition inspired by Rochester's cityscape on show at Fuego Coffee through January
Emiliano Diaz, perhaps better known locally as “Ano,” was born in Buenos Aries, Argentina, but has lived in the United States since he was 3. As a boy, he went back to Argentina almost every year. During that time, he remembers seeing graffiti and stickers and marveling at them.
He has a vivid memory of seeing Shepard Fairey's "Andre the Giant Has a Posse." Diaz was so drawn to the piece that he had it tattooed on his left arm. From the first time he saw it, Diaz started considering Fairey's use of shadows and opposite colors.
Growing up in Canandaigua, Diaz knew he wanted to be an artist. But, he says, there wasn’t much of an art scene there at the time. Still, he did what he could to pursue his dream, taking all the available AP art classes and practicing his craft on his own.
When he was 21, he moved to Portland, Maine to pursue a career in graphic design. Realizing that wasn’t the path for him, he moved back east to Rochester, and began using his talents to create acrylic paintings that boldly use color and precise images.
Those paintings will be on view at Fuego Coffee, 1 Woodbury Blvd, Rochester, NY 14604.
On January 7, Emiliano Diaz’s show “Color.” opens at Fuego Coffee. The 5-7 PM event will also have sounds by DJ Chreath.
Inspired by the city
As a resident of downtown Rochester, the city is an influence for Diaz.
“I’ve lived here for about seven years,” he said. “I’m inspired by the architectural style the city has to offer, taking perspective to a whole new level, using acrylic to recreate scenes that might now be seen as art to some.”
Before the COVID-19 pandemic began, Diaz visited New York City regularly. One night while walking back from a skateboarding trip, Diaz says the art “came to hm.” He liked architecture and graffiti and he favored making paintings that were brightly colored —why not combine the three? He did so, resulting in bright pop art and graffiti-inspired paintings that highlight the shadows, dimensions and angles of buildings.
Largely self taught, Diaz mixes a lot of his own colors, something that allows him to be very precise and exact with his choices. He says that mixing colors also allows him to use new perspectives with shadow work and other ideas he has been interested in recently.
In Diaz's pieces — all acrylic on canvas — scenes that might otherwise garner only a passing acknowledgment are highlighted through his use of color and his focus on shadows. For instance in "YELLOW CACTUS," a 24 inch x 30 inch piece, Diaz places the viewer inside a building a room with two bright windows.
The colors he uses are reminiscent of a sunset. The view from the windows is impenetrable because of the bright yellows and oranges, colors that are themselves cast across the bright blue flooring. The room is trimmed in a dark shade of red, a color that is mirrored on the ceiling, while the walls are pink. Three cacti of various sizes are placed on one of the walls.
Perhaps the room is painted white and is only flushed in colors because of the way the sun dances in through the windows? Perhaps the room is actually blue, pink and red. Only the artist can answer this. As the viewer, we're just glancing into the room Diaz invites us into for a brief time, allowing us to ponder where we are.
In another piece, "YELLOW LIGHT," a 36 inch x 36 inch acrylic painting also for sale at Fuego, Diaz places us outside on a downtown street. There are four prominent buildings in the front, each painted with colors in stark juxtaposition; there's a gray building, a red one, a blue one and a pink one. In the rear, we see shades of blue that perhaps indicate the continuation of the cityscape.
The gray building is the only one in which there appears to be life as one of the windows casts a yellow light perhaps intended to be indicative of someone inside, working.
As the viewer, we don't know who the worker is. Might it be a member of the cleaning staff, inside the building after everyone is gone? Or maybe one of those daytime workers has stayed late — occupying an office, finishing up some pressing work?
Diaz's work takes familiar settings — a room, a downtown landscape — and through the use of colors, pares them down. In doing so, he allows the viewer to ask questions. You're transported into a world full of color, a reminder that there is something noteworthy in even the most monotonous of days.
This isn’t Diaz’s first show. Last year he participated in a virtual art show in London. He has also participated in smaller shows and has rotating pieces at Cafe Sasso and Other Half Brewing Finger Lakes. But "Color." is an opportunity for Rochesterians to see — and potentially purchase — the art in person.
Adria R. Walker covers public education for the Democrat and Chronicle in partnership with Report for America. Follow her on Twitter at @adriawalkr or send her an email at arwalker@gannett.com. You can support her work with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: "Color.", an exhibition by Emiliano Diaz will be hanging all month at Fuego
