San Antonio artist and sculptor Angel Rodríguez-Díazdied on Friday. He was 67.
He was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1955. After graduating from the University of Puerto Rico with a fine arts degree, he moved to New York City, where he graduated with a master's in fine arts from Hunter College.
In 1995 he moved to San Antonio, where he quickly established a reputation in both painting and sculpture.
His near photographic painting style caught the eye of Ricky Armendariz, artist and professor of art at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
“He was literally one of the most talented — technically and conceptually — artists that I've ever met, bar none,” Armendariz said. “His work was hard hitting at times. His work was about identity, pain and loss.”
Perhaps the most frequent model for Rodríguez-Díaz was himself. But, Armendariz added, despite the pain and loss fueling most paintings, another human element was often there.
“There was a constant thread of humor as a way to deal with tough subjects,” he said.
One of his best known pieces is a 28-foot high obelisk at a Beacon Hill traffic circle on Blanco Road at Fulton Avenue. The four-sided piece is made of iron — its cutouts shaped as different natural elements. Rodríguez-Díaz spoke to TPR about the obelisk in 2014.
“There’s a century plant that opens up and leads to the rest of the imagery that goes towards the top,” he said.
Also portrayed on the sculpture: the two peaks south of the town of Blanco.
“You can see them on the horizon, two peaks, and they call them 'Twin Sisters,' then it goes into these billowing clouds, kind of Chinese style,” Rodríguez-Díaz said.
His art's popularity ranged far beyond San Antonio, where his work was displayed at UTSA, SAMA and the McNay. Many of his paintings reside in permanent collections throughout the U.S., including back in Puerto Rico. He has pieces in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Museum of Mexican Art, in Chicago, among several other museums.
“We're going to greatly miss him,” Armendariz said.
Information on a cause of death was not immediately available. Rodríguez-Díaz is survived by his husband and fellow artist Rolando Briseño. Funeral arrangements are pending.