ANTONIO DÍAZ GARCÍA - ESCULTURAS

Page 119 “ Sueños de niñez ” (Childhood Dreams, 2010). Solid iron. Melis pine stand. 121 x 24 x 19 cm. a style bursting with sensitivity. Beautiful introspections are skilfully brought together in a compendium of forms and volumes, of strains and tensions trapped underneath unlikely textures. In this third collection or repertoire, one can perceive premonitory singularities of what is going to happen, something like we saw in the preamble, about what will undoubtedly be his great creative explosion:a monumental work, with freedom of size, which should be viewed without premises or explanations, for it will speak for itself. If it is true that an artist’s biography is composed of his own work, AD’s sculpture follows a path that is as precise in its course as it is rich in its register. In addition, all of his work coheres, a uniting thread that allows one to dance between different works following the traces of the same idea that never stops surprising us with its infinite variations and perspectives. Subject to a constant self-criticism, the sculptor advances through the completion of an exercise in reflection from the point of view of and also for his work. Here is where his perseverance wins out; the strength of the iron collapses under The artist’s insistent yoke. Suddenly it yields, loses its wild nature, softens its shapes and calms its fury. Like ice melting in the rising Sun’s rays, the metal melts away its bitterness amongst roughly-drawn strata. The result is a collection of details, moments of feelings and sorrows; a story of achievements and tears; of work and endings which emerges from the most recondite of his insides, his understanding and his memory. Page 115 “ Bajo presión ” (Under Pressure, 2010). Solid iron. Melis pine stand. 111 x 27.5 x 27.5 cm. Page 116 “ Querencia ” (Homeland, 2010). Solid iron. Melis pine stand. 150 x 190 x 75 cm. Part of an artist’s mission is to guard both the mystery and the charm of that which cannot be explained, that pact, implicit pact. If this is not the case, the artwork runs the risk of becoming vulgar, something too humdrum to maintain the spell. Like an excited child with his Lego, AD redraws and resketches over and over again the pillars of the cathedral of his convictions, which are as set as his aspirations are thriving. Like a model of a colossus that is yet to be, the obstinate manchego creates a tower that rises up as a project and finished work simultaneously, because in this story there is only iron, making reworking difficult. Page 123 “ La torre ” (The Tower, 2010). Solid iron. No stand. 58 x 21 x 21 cm. Every piece of work is an episode, a remnant of the way, a note, a sensation, a halt. Each is exclusive, unique and unrepeatable. Something both unexpected and appealing. Details may change, but it retains the peculiarities of a totally unique and unmistakable style, both in its execution and expression. Perennial traces, bearing witness to a solitary, if genuine, pure and dedicated meandering. Its dimensions grow and it improves its type, ennobling its own lineage and creating works that are ever more intimate, more unique. Page 124 “ Creciendo ” (Growing, 2011). Solid iron. Melis pine stand. 72 x 24 x 185 cm. Page 127 " Exaltación ” (Exaltation, 2011). Solid iron. No stand. 48 x 20 x 20 cm. How lucky is he that can follow the path his has chosen, dodging obstacles, investigating to find answers to the many questions, quenching his restless thirst for knowledge in the cool waters of the lack of creativity! Firm in his purpose that keeps him awake and feeds his hunger to shape and model; his honesty, coherence and skill give him the wings he needs to take off. This constant struggle between material and artist brings an added value to AD’s sculptural work, which is constituted both as an option and an action, as an aim and end at the same time, in one single tangible and eloquent reality. Page 128 “ Rigor ” (Rigour, 2011). Solid iron. Melis pine stand. 120 x 30 x 27 cm. From his first works until his current situation, the sculptor’s creation has followed an itinerary that closely follows the circumstances that life has presented him with. It could be said that all his collections can be condensed to a single idea: a dynamic sculptural style that perfects itself as his essence is embodied in various pieces of iron. The variation in his pieces can be reduced to a succinct series de interconnected epistles whose story mirrors the author’s own existence. Page 133 “ La génesis ” (The Genesis, 2011). Solid iron. Melis pine stand. 117 x 34 x 33 cm. Page 136-137 “ Puntales ” (Posts, collection of sculptures, 2010) Solid iron. Melis pine stand. 145 x 80 x 80 cm. He gifts movement to his creation, which wakes up and moves around on its stand, trying to settle. The artist conditions the metal his work is made of, shapes its behaviour, giving it a more or less rigorous attitude, because it has to be able to identify itself with its own organoleptic characteristics, with its destiny. Thanks to this, we find ourselves before sculpture which is complicit, the fruit of a passion that knows no bounds because it is not overtaken by an approach that it was not brought about with. Page 138 “ Cinética ” (Kinetics, 2010). Solid iron. Melis pine stand. 120 x 30 x 30 cm. This is a delicate series with which the sculptor, totally dedicated to iron, acquiesces and experiments with pure steel in a dynamic shape of undulating, sinuous lines that detect the mark and tradition of the old Basque steelworks, with which AD maintains good relations. A small collection – result of a change in direction that I greatly fear is unlikely to repeat itself – of six unique pieces of an original, unseen style that is also succinct and sober. With these pieces AD respectfully conquers spaces and materials close to the metal that is the protagonist of his prolific and easily- identified sculptural creation. Here, a snake fight acts as a metaphor for a lethal duel similar to that which happens in the lead-up to any artistic project, and especially so in this case, for it breaks with the tradition of his previous works. Page 141 “ Competir desde dentro ” (Competing from Wi- thin, 2010). Stainless steel. Melis pine stand. 155 x 45 x 30 cm. The trembling flourish of this charming recreation of the sudden impulse that the creative mind has upon meeting a new challenge speaks to us once again of equanimity and good sense. We find conscientiously thought-out forms in its design and previous design, in which despite what it may seem, nothing has been left to chance. A flurry of sketches and notes precedes the beginning of every day, every strike, every effort; something unused to abstraction, unfortunately. Its subtle form, which instead of breaking is exquisitely prolonged, emulating – but not copying – models from nature, to whom he extends courtesy. Page 142 “La tentación serpentea ” (Temptation meanders, 2009). Stainless steel. Melis pine stand. 159 x 55 x 30 cm. Concentrated vitality, a fresh conscience and a unity of energies searching for fertility: these are the ingredients in every phial of essence that comes out AD’s forge. A constant struggle in search of spiritual reconciliation, hoping for a divine whisper, for a visible sign. He gets tired, but the satisfaction is worth the effort. Deep in the silence of his own beats, in the mastery he shows in his own drive, he collects his faculties to reflect harmony and meditation in a gathering of thoughts and actions that reflects the sweat and drive invested in them, avoiding any shadow of distraction so that the energy is not wasted on anything that is not the completion of the work. Page 143 “ Recogimiento ” (Mediation, 2009). Stainless ste- el. Melis pine stand. 132 x 35 x 19 cm. It is part of the artist’s intention to be called to meet his own reflection. He finds nothing that he doesn’t already have. The diffusion – as opposed to the meditation – stops him coming across himself. The absence of meditation results in affliction, in anguish,