Perpetual art of Sancti Spiritus in roofs painter Antonio Diaz

Antonio Díaz, roofs painter, today perpetuates the image of Sancti Spíritus with the solo exhibition "Again my city", fourth of the first seven towns founded in Cuba by the Spanish.
 
Most of the paintings by this renowned plastic artist represent the roofs that cover dissimilar buildings of this city, a National Monument, and characterizes the town, founded in June 1514 by the Adelantado Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar.

In the Oscar Fernández-Morera art gallery, on the central boulevard of Espiritu, more than 15 works by this self-taught painter can be seen since last Friday, including seascapes, with rough waves and blue tones.

In statements to Prensa Latina, he expressed that “This is a retrospective, because they are works prior to the present. A tour of what has already been done. Most are large format and include seascapes, a theme used by many other creators”.

Regarding one of his best-known paintings, “Between two waters”, he explained that it adorns one of the rooms of the Rubén Martínez Villena Provincial Library, although it currently occupies a place in the exhibition “Again my city”.

Díaz shows his hometown from another perspective –from above-, beyond the much-cited architectural jewels of the city such as the Iglesia Parroquial Mayor or the Bridge over the Yayabo River, without diminishing their importance.

He was born on September 4, 1942, so he recently turned 80. He has several personal and collective exhibitions, and his pieces are in collections in countries of America, Europe and Asia, while others are in important installations in his hometown.

In 2004, the Sancti Spíritus Municipal Assembly of People’s Power granted him the status of Painter of the City, for reflecting the town and its red-tiled roofs, which is why he is also known as The Painter of the Roofs.

He holds the Amelia Peláez Award for his Life Work and the Raúl Gómez García and Cuban Culture distinctions, among other recognitions.

In tribute to the half millennium of the former town of Espíritu Santo, in 2014, he presented the personal exhibition Congratulations, while last year the tribute day for the 508th anniversary of the founding of Sancti Spíritus was dedicated to him.