Alejandro Diaz American, b. 1963
Based in New York, Alejandro Diaz was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas where he developed a unique and pertinent body of work exemplifying the complex and visually rich cultural milieu particular to South Texas and Mexico. Diaz received an MFA from the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College, Annandale-onHudson, NY in 1999 and a BFA from the University of Texas at Austin in 1987. He was an Artist-in-Residence at Artpace in 1996 and co-founded Sala Diaz Gallery that same year in San Antonio, Texas. In both his artistic and curatorial practice Diaz has prioritized the inclusion and representation of lesser-known or rarely validated cultural expressions. His artwork is often tinged with humor, sometimes making self-deprecating jokes about the “seriousness” of artmaking, other times delivering biting socio-political commentary under the guise of light-hearted wit. Diaz's conceptual, campy and political cardboard signs-which he began making and selling on the streets of Manhattan in the late 1990s-are emblematic of his recurrent use of everyday materials and his continuing involvement with art as a form of entertainment, activism, public intervention, and free enterprise.
Winner of the "In the Public Realm" competition in 2005, Diaz was commissioned by the Public Art Fund to create 4 large-scale sculptures/planters in the form of oversized Mexican grocery store canned products sited on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx. Standing in for the process of assimilation, the Mexican products Diaz chose to replicate were items that were rapidly becoming part of American mainstream culture.
In 2007, Diaz was the recipient of the prestigious Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award, and in 2008 Diaz was selected to participate in a group exhibition organized and exhibited at LACMA, Phantom Sightings: Art After the Chicano Movement. The groundbreaking exhibition traveled to Mexico City, Houston, San Antonio, and New York City. Diaz has had a solo project at the critically acclaimed Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, CT (2009) with additional solo exhibitions at Jessica Murray Projects, NY (2001), the RISD Museum of Art, RI (2012), and the Linda Pace Foundation in San Antonio, TX (2015).
Diaz's work has been reviewed in publications such as the New Yorker, The New York Times, Art in America, the LA Times, Flash Art, Artforum, and Frieze. His work, among others, is in the collections of the Smithsonian Museum of Art, Washington D.C.; LACMA, Los Angelos, CA; El Museo del Barrio, New York, NY; Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, AZ; Fundación ColecciónJumex, Mexico City, Mexico; RISD Museum of Art, Providence, RI; Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, TX; McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, TX; The National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago, IL; Ruby City, San Antonio, TX.
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Alejandro DiazPlastered in Mexico, 2019Acrylic, fiber paste, broken plaster statue, beer bottles on canvas48 x 36"
121.9 x 91.4 cm -
Alejandro DiazUntitled, 2019Acrylic, 24K gold pigment, fiber paste, found and bought objects on canvas40 x 30 x 3 in
101.6 x 76.2 x 7.6 cm -
Alejandro DiazXochimilco, 2019Acrylic, fiber paste, and various vintage clothing buttons on canvas28 x 22 in
71.1 x 55.9 cm -
Alejandro DiazDelfini, 2018Acrylic, crackle paste on canvas28 x 22"
71.1 x 55.9 cm -
Alejandro DiazGod, 2018Acrylic, 24K gold pigment, found objects on canvas24 x 20"
61 x 50.8 cm -
Alejandro DiazGrocery List, 2018Acrylic on canvas30 x 24"
76.2 x 60.96 cm -
Alejandro DiazPottery Barn, 2018Acrylic and shells on canvas11 x 14"
27.9 x 35.6 cm -
Alejandro DiazWho's Afraid of Edvard Munch, 2018Acrylic, plastic crucifix on canvas28 x 22"
71.1 x 55.9 cm -
Alejandro DiazBoy on a Burro, 2017Hand colored silkscreen print16 x 12 in
40.6 x 30.5 cm3/9 -
Alejandro DiazMake Tacos Not War, 2017Acrylic, faux tin panel, "Make Tacos Not War" buttons on canvas36 x 36"
91.4 x 91.4 cm -
Alejandro DiazConceptual Folk, 2016Acrylic and mixed media on canvas16 x 20"
40.6 x 50.8 cm -
Alejandro DiazPlace / Replace, 2016Acrylic and paint can lid on canvas28 x 22 in
71.1 x 55.9 cm -
Alejandro DiazFabuloso Lavender, 2014Archival color print on German etching paper47 x 36.5
119.4 x 92.7 cmEdition of 10 plus 2 AP -
Alejandro DiazMake Tacos Not War, 2007/2024Neon on clear plexiglass8 x 58 x 4 in
20.3 x 147.3 x 10.2 cmEdition of 10
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Review: “Madre Tierra” at Ruiz-Healy Art, San Antonio
Christopher Karr , Glasstire, July 31, 2024 -
“Xicanx” Exhibition Surveys Chicana/o/x Art in San Antonio
Dr. Ruben C. Cordova , Glasstire, July 20, 2024 -
Glasstire: Top Five: Madre Tierra | June 27, 2024
Glasstire, June 27, 2024 -
Exhibition takes viewers on a journey through visual styles and thematic experience of the landscape
Art Daily , June 3, 2024
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Patricia Ruiz-Healy champions Latinx and South Texas artists in both San Antonio and Manhattan
Bryan Rindfuss, San Antonio Current, November 4, 2022 -
Alejandro Diaz: Words for White Walls
Artishock Revista, June 14, 2022 -
Breakfast Tacos At Tiffany’s? Inside Alejandro Diaz's Must-See Art Exhibit!
Guest of a Guest, May 17, 2022 -
Winter Newsletter | Ruiz-Healy Art
Ruiz Healy Art , February 4, 2022 -
Ruiz-Healy Art Celebrates its Quinceañera
Kathleen Petty, San Antonio Magazine, November 19, 2021 -
Ruiz-Healy Gallery Artists’ Works Acquired By Four Museums
Christopher Blay, Glasstire, January 25, 2021 -
Art Destination: Why San Antonio Deserves More Attention
Claudia Arozqueta, ArtSlant Magazine, September 7, 2015 -
Critics Picks- Alejandro Diaz
Leslie Moody Castro, ArtForum, April 15, 2015
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Madre Tierra
May 29 - September 7, 2024 San AntonioRuiz-Healy Art is pleased to present Madre Tierra, a group exhibition of works by Nate Cassie, Alejandro Diaz, Andrés Ferrandis, Consuelo Jimenez Underwood, Matt Kleberg, Leigh Anne Lester, Constance Lowe,...Read more -
IFPDA Fine Art Print Fair
October 26 - 29, 2023 New York CityRuiz-Healy Art is pleased to announce the gallery's sixth year of participation in the 30th edition of the International Fine Print Dealers Association (IFPDA), the world's largest art fair for...Read more -
Contemporary Latinx and Latin American Printmakers
September 28 - November 4, 2022 New York CityRuiz-Healy Art is thrilled to present Contemporary Latinx and Latin American Printmakers. The exhibition will present works by César A. Martínez, Juan de Dios Mora, Marta Sánchez, Richard Armendariz, Moses Ros, Pedro Friedeberg, Patssi Valdez, Johanna Calle, Liliana Porter, Michael Menchaca, Francisco Toledo, Carlos Amorales, Vicente Rojo, Cisco Jiménez, Rodolfo Morales, Dr. Lakra, Modesto Bernardo, Ethel Shipton, Alejandro Diaz, Celia Álvarez Muñoz, Roger Von Gunten, Pedro Diego Alvarado-Rivera, Rodolfo Morales, and Carlos Rosales-Silva.Read more -
Alejandro Diaz: Words for White Walls
May 11 - July 8, 2022 New York CityRuiz-Healy Art is pleased to announce Alejandro Diaz: Words for White Walls. This is the artist’s second solo exhibition with the gallery. Grounded in his Mexican American heritage and South Texas aesthetics, Diaz presents a recent series of text-based paintings and prints as well as found object sculptures from the late 2000’s. Diaz will also showcase a series of cardboard signs, which he began making and selling on the streets of Manhattan in the late 1990s.Read more
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Ruiz-Healy Art: Quinceañera
November 18, 2021 - January 29, 2022 San AntonioRuiz-Healy Art is pleased to announce Ruiz-Healy Art: Quinceañera, an exhibition commemorating the fifteen-year anniversary of Ruiz-Healy Art in San Antonio, Texas. The exhibition features work by artists that have...Read more -
Jesse Amado & Alejandro Diaz: Double Pleasure
January 29 - March 21, 2020 San AntonioJesse Amado & Alejandro Diaz: Double Pleasure highlights the artists' work in painting and a shared interest in post-conceptual art practices that are grounded in their Mexican American heritage and South Texas aesthetics.Read more -
Jesse Amado & Alejandro Diaz: Double Pleasure
January 23 - August 29, 2020 New York CityJesse Amado & Alejandro Diaz: Double Pleasure highlights the artists' work in painting and a shared interest in post-conceptual art practices that are grounded in their Mexican American heritage and South Texas aesthetics.Read more -
More than Words: Text-Based Artworks
March 5 - April 25, 2015 San AntonioMore than Words: Text Based Artworks features works by the artists: Andrés Ferrandis, Ethel Shipton, Ricky Armendariz, Jesse Amado, Chuck Ramirez, Julie Speed, Nate Cassie, Alejandro Diaz, Marifer Barrero. Text based artwork is a recurring hallmart of modern art. The artists in More than Words: Text Based Artworks create works that run the gamut from subversive social comment to rapturous meditation. Each will give you an unexpected occasion to pause.Read more
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Refined Reflections into the Formidable: Contemporary Latino Art from the Zoe Díaz Collection | César Martínez, Chuck Ramirez, Alejandro Diaz
Essays by Scott A. Sherer, Lucy R. Lippard, and Lana S. Meador Scott A. Sherer, Lucy R. Lippard, and Lana S. Meador, 2023Paperback, 62 pagesRead more
Publisher: Russell Hill Rogers Galleries, UTSA School of Art
ISBN: 978-1-7364928-1-9
Dimensions: 11" x 8.75" -
Jesse Amado & Alejandro Diaz: Double Pleasure I Ruiz-Healy Art
Essay by Carla Stellweg 2020Hardback, 66 pagesRead more
Publisher: Ruiz-Healy Art
ISBN: 9781714309726
Dimensions: 10 x 8" -
Printing the Revolution: The Rise and Impact of Chicano Graphics, 1965 to Now
Claudia E. Zapata, Terezita Romo, Carmen Ramos, Tatiana Reinoza I Featuring: Alejandro Diaz Claudia E. Zapata, Terezita Romo, Carmen Ramos, Tatiana Reinoza, 2020Flexibound, 344 pagesRead more
Publisher: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Dimensions: 9x1.5x12 in, 22.9x3.8x 30.5cm -
Alejandro Díaz: It Takes a Village
Essays by Kathryn Kanjo and Rita Gonzalez Linda Pace Foundation, 2016Hardcover, 79 pagesRead more
Publisher: Linda Pace Foundation
ISBN: 0997693908
Dimensions: 9.5 X 10 In -
Phantom Sightings: Art after the Chicano Movement I Alejandro Diaz
Essays by Rita Gonzalez, Howard N. Fox & Chon A. Noriega Rita Gonzalez, Howard N. Fox & Chon A. Noriega, 2008Hardcover, 240 p pagesRead more
Publisher: University of California Press
ISBN: 0520255631
Dimensions: 10.5 x 10.5 -
Alejandro Diaz and Ethel Shipton: Licenciado Verdad
Groups and Spaces in Mexico Contemporary Art of the 90s- Vol. 1 Kurt Hollander, Patricia Sloane, 2007Hardcover, 585 pagesRead more
Publisher: Ediciones MP
ISBN: 9786079717728
Dimensions: 7.5 x 11 in, 19 x 28 cm