Amaury Diaz

Although he is often described as a contemporary realist, Puerto Rican artist, Amaury Diaz, says he's not sure what that means. The basis of his landscape paintings, the majority of which depict urban and rural setting of his native Puerto Rico, develop the atmosphere of a place rather than any particular subject within." I'm more interested in the mood and light than subject matter, which is secondary." "I sense a mood, and that's what I'm trying to capture — not necessarily what I see. I paint what I see, but I twist it to paint it the way I see it." Full of contrast, Amaury's paintings emphasize color over form. Energetic brushstrokes join lush darks with glowing bright hues.

"Tension is always in my mind.", Amaury says. "For painting to be dynamic there's got to be tension in the composition and color. I don't want to capture life exactly the way it is. Sometimes it's a little skewed and whenever there's a chance to shift it slightly, I always do." Unconcerned with traditional rules of composition, Amaury relies instead on his judgment to determine the elements to include in each painting as well their design and placement. "I make a conscious decision about what is going to make a good painting." He explains, "If I see something in the scene that won't contribute to making the painting better, I'm not going to put it in."

"I don't intend to show my cultural background through my paintings." says Amaury, "but if viewers see the Puerto Rican nature through my paintings I'm happy." Amaury, a largely self-taught artist began painting in earnest in 1960. His works hang in private collections around the world.

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