ANTONIO DÍAZ GARCÍA - ESCULTURAS

make himcompetewith himself in endless brawl from which he usually comes out unscathed, but not always. Often the adversary fights his corner, leaving his rival panting, recovering for a new round, like a fought, but not beaten bull, suffocated and defiant. It is in the heat of this fertile atmosphere, fed by a carefree torrent of burning waters, where AD’s sculptural universe grows, like an orchard of yet-to-be carried out fantasies, sensations that need to be named and dressed in a toga of metal. He is at once creator and creation, for he walks at the same pace as the things that he is gestating, but without turning to vague concepts, provoking himself and transforming his own challenge into a fuse that ignites his creative eruption. The placid man from La Mancha, in whose skin one can see the innate attachment to iron and the bittersweetness of his arduous beginnings, leaves memories, attachments and troubles behind to walk the path of the hardened, weather-beaten man, loyal to a commitment with his own shadow, tracing out a difficult career path. AD has persevered in his intentions, pushing through that kind of generalised nonsense seen in a large number of more mundane artistic stages in order to make way for light, to illuminate both himself and others. This sculptor moves to the rhythm of his work, dedicating himself unconditionally in a burst of activity that is as impetuous as his own faith and certainty. Fertile in resources, generous in means, each piece that forms part of his collections has been slowly brought to life, allowing the goddess of evocation to do her job, carefully watching for any attempts at rebellion or insurrection in order to quickly retake control. Each piece is a battle. Each battle is an adventure. Each adventure is a new challenge. With the nobility conferred on him by his roots, the nobility of the brave, who only give way to their hearts’ instincts, AD is a gloriously stubborn man, sufficiently convinced of his cause to lead armies on as many crusades as necessary to follow the trail of creative aspiration that comes from the very deepest point inside him. Release the two of them. Release them into their world. They were born for each other. One brings passion, love, sweat and strength. The other, also strong, tries not to give in. Simply out of his own condition. But, since he is noble, he lets himself be loved. One grunts, one shouts, and they end up caught, forming just one thing, in a single proclamation to heaven, offering up their love to their creator. We have been through many things together, and the hymn has always remained the same. Both were born out of the blow and for the blow. What will become of me if you leave me alone, my dearest friend, my anvil! Antonio Díaz García the work: the first works: This collection, the first of his artistic trajectory, is unarguably emphatic and powerful, almost bloody, fully-flowing, virgin, without subterfuge or external conditioning, free of intoxications, pure. Each piece is a flourish, a gesture, a feeling: brutal, absolute and unabridged. Borne from a deep volition, in this series the sculptor spits fire amongst voices than demand to be listened to. From its hibernation in the folds of his skin, this creation from AD’s insides beings to take shape now, shapes that even he can’t recognise, some whimsical, others premeditated, all surprising. As if obeying a ritual, each of his creations has been forged following a kind of codex that has been born from that instinct that had been so long crouched, hidden behind the tree of his creative force. Even considering the risk that a simple skim reader might find the chosen term inappropriate, I consider this group of sculptures exquisite. It comes from the very creative marrow of the artist, as far as the beauty in the care taken over the shaping of the forms is concerned – an artistic rarity in this type of sculpture. Or indeed, the painstaking immaculacy dedicated to the decoration of each piece, which is dreamt, designed and brought to life following the original idea with absolute honesty: the implacable strength of life and elements, the principles that rule dignity and ethics, the torsion born of the rigours that are part of human existence, or the desires of he who wants the answers to so many unasked questions. Each one of AD’s sculptures in unique, personal and untransferable. Pieces born from the fire, with their skin marked by the brand of enthusiasm, the legacy of experience; pieces born to leave a trace of the clamour of battle, of an intention, of a path already taken, but still not completed. He searches, finds, struggles and carries on searching. His path is one of constant struggle between the desire to create and the necessity of communicating, taking advantage of all his force, his deepest feelings, his sufferings and his determination. Their fury placated, the artist calmed, the still- warm works lie on their noble pedestals of oak and pine, of iron and walnut. Apparently undaunted and ever defiant, naked before the gaze, the iron structures rise up like a totem, bursting with meaning, totally sparkling. AD’s early collection starts and finishes with this series of thirteen exclusive pieces of solid iron, chained to the pillars of the sculptor’s imagination. Therefore we are speaking of a unique and invaluable collection, disturbing and suggestive, whimsical in its discourse, solvent in its agreements, august in its stature and decorous in its execution. An unexpected move within the current artistic landscape in which nothing it what is seems and what it seems is nothing. In this, one of his first pieces, the sculptor makes a clear and unequivocal show of his ideology, shown through a work that is rather Cartesian in its meaning. Different directives and standpoints at a crossroads from which options, tendencies and meetings with destiny arise. Consistent, unmoving, judicious and reflective, it sketches what might be interpreted as a beginning from which to construct a book of stories. Precisely following his chosen style, the sculptor heavily draws the pronouncements of his conscience and his endless creative hunger. It is in itself the start of a creative adventure where the guidelines have been definitively drawn: truth above all; emphasis in his forms, perspicacity in his decisions and consistency in his discourse. Coolly, he dresses its smooth skin in a satiny, one might even say velvety, patina; disguising the harshness of its face with silk, sanding off its rough edges with a silver comb, sweetening its rage with his forger’s hard, beaten hands. Page 45 “ Los orígenes ” (The Origins, 2010). Solid iron. Melis pine stand. 175 x 80 x 60 cm. Common to some of the works belonging to this first collection is the bronzed patina that the rough metal is bathed in, thus achieving an interesting play of colours, between straw and gold, that enliven the metal without seriously compromising its reserve. The meaning of duty, of its mark: the slavery of one’s own decision, the sense in responsibility and the following of principles turned into dogmas, these are all recurrent representations in AD’s work. On this occasion, the almost minimalist piece does not go overboard with rhetoric or ornamentation in favour of a greater impact in what it attempts to transmit: the implacable lightness of existence only honoured by this differentiating factor which separated the iron ore from the waste that surrounds it, the meaning of action. Page 46 “ El sentido del hacer ” (The meaning of action, 2010). Solid iron. Melis pine stand. 175 x 55 x 50 cm. Abstraction is provoked by the shocking, although implicit, nature of AD’s proposal which knows how to bring together evocations from very distant outsets. On this occasion, the artist is more concrete in his expression and synthesises the essence of everything. The piece is a consequence of a previous work, but it seeks to make room to put down roots, to strengthen its pillars and establish itself. The compendium of knowledge that has been grasped, assimilated over years of work and desire, is displayed in this representation. It has