5 Questions with Luis Diaz
Luis Diaz outside his Bakhouse studio
Born and raised in Miami, Luis Diaz doesn't consider himself a "Miami Artist", though he "loves living here", his art doesn't scream Miami. He prefers to be considered a global artist than be stereotyped as a Miami artist. A graduate from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Luis stays in touch with friends that have included him in various projects. These projects allow him to spread his work as near as Atlanta, GA and as far as Portland, OR; where he is currently participating in a show called The Atomic Tiki. His body of work is expansive and ranges from real life sports heroes to fantastic superheroes. When it comes to his fine art style, Luis seems to pull his inspiration from a place that doesn't physically exist on this planet but permeates in his dreams. I met Luis at his studio at the Bakehouse, where he was finalizing artwork for a video game client. We chatted for a while about his art career, revisiting past experiences and current projects.
Steve: I noticed a caricature of Ron Jeremy on the door to your studio, what's that about?
Luis: Haa, yeah, I worked for a local adult entertainment company for a year and a half. A friend of mine (that I used to show work with) told me about it and I guess at the time, when I was in my mid-twenties, I wanted a change of lifestyle. They needed a graphic designer so I wasn’t in the movies or anything like that at all. I remember my ex-girlfriend was really against it from the get-go, she hated that whole thing, but that’s another story. For the most part, I did graphic design on the DVD covers for their line. I was able to do a lot of illustration work too and I did a Ron Jeremy magazine add once. It was an interesting experience and I think whomever works there shouldn’t work there for too long.
S: Were you being corrupted or what?
L: Nah, it’s a fun environment and everyone is really cool. It’s not what you’d expect it to be; it’s not this sleazy disgusting place with weird people. Everybody there is like anybody else, except if you go to work and you don’t have porn on your computer, you might get in trouble, so it’s the opposite of any other work. I did have fun in it and I rode it out until I couldn’t anymore, until I saw that my artistic freedom wasn’t there anymore and I reached my growing point. I have some friends that still work there, you know, everybody has their thing.
S: I know you've done some album artwork, are there any local musical artists you’d like to work with?
L: Yeah I would like to work with some of the local talent. I like a lot of music from Miami: Artofficial, Mayday, and The Big Bounce. I would do a cover for any of those bands. I’m trying to do more work for bands because that’s fun stuff, usually they don’t come at you with any specific demands, you listen to their music and paint what you feel. And if they like it you proceed. Some of the album work I’ve done, like for Fish Circus, is what I like to do: realistic stuff with a little bit of an expressionistic vibe. Reminiscent of Bill Sienkiewicz, he’s a comic book artist, or Bernie Fuchs. It’s the kind of stuff I’d like to be doing for my fine art career. That’s where I’m going with my art.
S: Speaking of comic book art, I know you were involved in past Supercon festivals, what’s your connection there?
L: A friend of mine Terry Cronin, makes his own comic books and I did a paperback cover for his latest novel called The Skinvestigator. It was a kind of a retro pulp style theme, he was happy with it and I had fun doing it. Terry actually hooked me up with Supercon Mike and I’ve been attending the festival these last couple of years. It’s a lot of fun; I met some cool people and some great artists. I had fans that came down from different parts of Florida just to have me sign their Garbage Pail Kid cards. I see kids, these teenagers who are like, “O, I remember I used to collect Garbage Pail Kids”, and I’m like “When?” “O yeah when I was 6.” It’s a funny, weird experience to know there are kids out there that have grown up with my Garbage Pail Kids. It’s the same thing for me, when I was starting out and wanted to do the Garbage Pail Kids, I’d write to the creators, mainly John Pound. Then later I realized how much of an impact they had on me and it all came around full circle.
S: Do you do a lot of live painting?
L: I’ve slowly been doing them. I did one piece for Stand Up For Kids, it was a benefit we had here at the Bakehouse to raise money for kids that are homeless. That painting got sold, and it was this particular style where its sort of an optical illusion. I’ve been messing around with this mixture of faces combined together I feel like its more original. I did one recently for the Malice in Wonderland show a few months back. I think the shortest time I’ve had was 2 hours. I really enjoy painting out there and having the people around me, it’s a crazy rush. I initially thought it was going to be a lot of pressure. Unfortunately companies, clubs, and bars don’t want to pay you, they just give you drinks. Which is fine if your very young or something, but you have to pay the bills. I enjoy it and do it for myself, but I wish they would compensate the artists. It’s entertainment just like the DJ playing music. But because there are some artists willing to do it for nothing it kind of cheapens the whole thing.
LINKS:
Luis Diaz Art website
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NOTE FOR COMMENTS: Do not flame or leave obnoxious comments, THEY WILL NOT BE APPROVED. Constructive criticism should always be welcomed by any artist, but don't be a d-bag, show some class. Thanks. - REVMiami Staff
