September 2004
PRESS RELEASE:

DANIEL MARTIN DIAZ
Solo Exhibition "VISIONS OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE"
November 5th thru December 2nd
Opening Reception November 5th 6:30pm – 12:00pm
Perihelion Arts, 1500 NW Grand Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85007

In the solo exhibition, "VISIONS OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE,” Diaz takes us around dark corners, to places most are afraid to go. Through his art, we are invited into a realm of uncertainty that he attempts to clarify for us. Unconventional and unrelenting this show will replenish the soul and stir the mind.

In the few years Diaz has been painting, his enthusiasm and dedication to the arts have propelled him into top-notch status and has attracted commissions from such notable clients as Warner Bros., Atlantic Records and P.B.S. His exhibitions include highly acclaimed shows in his hometown of Tucson, Arizona, with Joel Peter Witkin, the Tucson Museum of Art, La Luz de Jesus Gallery in Los Angeles, CA ., forty solo and group exhibitions in 15 states, and 8 countries, including two international touring exhibitions. Throughout his career, his art has appeared in numerous local, national, and international publications. He has been commissioned to create a drawing for the P.B.S. documentary, The Forgetting: A Portrait of Alzheimer’s hosted by David Hyde Pierce, which aired nationally in January 2004.

His controversial art graces the latest album, Payable on Death, by the multi-platinum band on Atlantic Records, P.O.D. “85 percent of Christian bookstores across the country have refused to carry the band's latest record, Payable on Death, because of its artwork, which depicts a naked woman with butterfly wings, her arms crossed over her breasts and a banner with the word "Sanctus" (a Latin word for the sung part of the preface in Mass) across her nether region.”- MTV NEWS.

When asked about his feelings on the matter, Diaz said "It's quite ironic that throughout my art career I have been censored by a reputable art publication and denied inclusion into art exhibitions because my work is too religious" artist Daniel Martin Diaz tells Australia's Undercover News. "Now my work is being censored by religious outlets, I find it amusing".

In May 2004, the Award Winning book entitled, “Triginta Uno Dies,” made it’s debut. This beautifully haunting eighty page hardcover book features thirty-one disturbing, yet sublime graphite drawings created in thirty-one days by Diaz. A grueling, yet exhilarating journey into the subconscious, this intimate reflection depicts the struggles between faith, death, and the after-life. “Where Diaz has dissected-even decapitated-his figures, he has done so not to shock or scandalize us, but to jar us out of the mundane, formulaic, physical realm, to free us to respond to the higher, and deeper, spiritual meaning of religious symbols and images whose familiar forms have all too often served to distance us from their power.” Gloria Fraser Giffords, Art Historian

“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 evoke 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.” Daniel Martin Diaz

To request a book for review contact:
Billy or Michel at 1-800-978-7667
ISBN: 0-86719-617-3

Fall Events:
Self Help Graphics & Art
3802 Cesar E. Chavez Ave. / tel. 323-881-6444
Group Show “Likeness & Presence”Contemporary religious Expressions – Curated by Christina Ochoa
September 11th - October 10th
Opening Reception: September 11th, 7- 10PM

Mesa Contemporary Arts - Mesa Arts Center
155 N. Center St. / Mesa, AZ 85211 / 480-644-2056
Group Show “Works From The Permanent Collection”
September 8th - October 16th
Opening Reception: September 10th, 6-8 PM

Tin Man Alley
608 North 2nd St. / Philadelphia, PA 19123 / (215) 923-1418.
Group Show “Ghost Town”
October 2nd - November 14th, 2004
Featured Artists:
Todd Schorr, Gary Baseman, Ron English, Glenn Barr, Shag, Chris Mars, Tim Biskup, Dave Cooper, Marion Peck, Scott Musgrove, Daniel Peacock, Dalek, Mitch O'connell, Jonathan Weiner, Gary Taxali, Liz McGrath, Tara McPherson, Jordin Isip.

M Modern Gallery
400 N. Palm Canyon Drive / Palm Springs, CA 92262 / (760) 416.3611
Group Show “Things with Wings”
October - November, 2004
Featured Artists:
The usual group of Juxtapoz artists will be exhibiting in this show.

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