My 7 reasons (very thoughtful) why José María Díez has to have a place in the Reina Sofía Museum in 10 years.
Generally these Post are signed by Minimae as a company.
This time I'm going to do it: Pepe Gómez Larraz , visible head of Minimae.
So if in the future you want to claim someone or someone to blame for what I am going to write, it will have a name and surname.
I cannot guarantee that José María Díez , the artist that I am going to present to you today, will be at El Reina Sofía.
Promising you something that doesn't directly depend on me is supremely stupid.
What I can assure you is that Díez should, yes or yes, be in the RS within 10 years.
And what I can also assure you is that I will put all my effort, enthusiasm and talent into putting JMD in the place it deserves. And that place is the MNCARS
Because?
Here are my 7 reasons :
1- Because José María Díez is much better than some hung artists at the Reina Sofia.
I shouldn't have started at this point, but it is. I won't say names but there are some artists who shouldn't be part of the RS permanent and there are some others who should. Among others, the teacher Díez.
2- For the technique . Juan Carlos (Heir to Crispín) told me after having framed the second batch of paintings by our artist: "It had been a long time since an artist with so much technique passed through my hands."
Juan Carlos, of course, acquired one of his pieces.
Fernando, also from Heredero, bought another.
“To see a work (live) by Díez is to shut up, observe and admire”.
2- Because it is classic and contemporary at the same time (And it is not easy at all)
Classic because it takes us to Velazquez's landscapes, to Piero della Francesca, to Patinir (a lot), to the Van Ruysdaels, to Constable, to Corot, to the romanticism of Friedich and although he does not name it, in the light of Turner, he always light…
Contemporary because he is adept at merging extremes. I will give an example. He is capable of intertwining the hyperrealism of Antonio López with the abstract expressionism of Zóbel without them squeaking at any time.
3- Because it catches at first sight . Too bad you don't have it in front of you.
In one of my previous emails I said that I had cried twice with JMD: the first time, when I faced his works live... the second time, when I had to photograph them.
It is impossible to translate the nuances of graphite into an image. Impossible.
That is why JMD caught up at Heredero de Crispín , our framing workshop. When someone stands in front of his works and doesn't know for sure if what he sees is reality or fiction. You can even cry.
It happened to me.
4- Own style . Yeah.
This for me is the most important point. Neither technique, nor influences, nor fireworks. If all this is not accompanied by an indelible, original, recognizable stamp, it has little projection in the coming years.
Díez no longer plays to discover himself. He did it a long time ago.
Now it can only evolve, but always through its traces: light, smoke, chiaroscuro, stairs to infinity, Rome, Extremadura, fjords, hyperrealism, flamenco painting... totems of a lifetime painting.
5- Because it is «The God of light ». And, curiously, these pieces only “illuminate” in black and white. This is his greatness.
I insist. Only in front of them and live their works will convince you that the name is not short.
The God of light.
I don't wrinkle when I tell you.
6- For his human greatness.
I leave the most important point for last.
All of the above being true, if his human talents were not with him, none of this would have happened.
At least in Minimae.
Many stupid swarm around art.
I appreciate you, teacher, I love you as a friend, as an "almost older" brother. As children and without knowing it, we played on the banks of a river in Extremadura.
And now, come and enjoy the new GOD OF LIGHT