¡Arte Caliente! Selections from the Joe A. Diaz Collection
November 18, 2006 – January 21, 2007
Sponsored in part by National City Bank
South Texas collector and businessman Joe A. Diaz owns one of the largest Texas collections of contemporary art created by American artists with Hispanic cultural roots. The works, primarily narrative in content, offer visual stories about the politics, social mores and cultural influences of a particular segment of American society.
Portions of the Diaz collection have been exhibited over the past 12 years in museums and galleries ranging from the Contemporary Art Museum in Houston to the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque, NM then to the San Jose Museum of Art among others. Now for the first time, more than 70 paintings, prints, drawings, and sculpture from this collection are included in a new exhibit at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art. The exhibition, ¡Arte Caliente! is on view to the public from November 18, 2006 through January 21, 2007.
Diaz launched his collection in the late 1980s and has amassed a body of works that document the evolution of Hispanic art in America. Focused on established artists working in Texas, ¡Arte Caliente! includes works by, Luis Jiménez, César Martinez and Kathy Vargas, and John Hernandez among others. Also included are a new generation of artists such as Juan Ramos, Alex Rubio and Vincent Valdez.
The artists included in ¡Arte Caliente! provide diverse interpretations of the accomplishments and challenges that are part of the Hispanic community. Some works in the collection are politically charged and address in a powerful way the life experiences of these contemporary artists. Others project tenderness and love of family, place and faith.
A 53-page exhibit catalogue will be available for purchase in the Museum Shop.
For more information about ¡Arte Caliente! or to schedule tours please contact the Fort Wayne Museum of Art 260-422-6467, ext. 312 or visit the website at www.fwmoa.org.
¡Arte Caliente! is organized by the South Texas Institute for the Arts.
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