Posted 10-9-00
Trabajadores en las Fincas is one of 30 lithographic prints by Frank Diaz Escalet that will soon go on display at Mather Gallery in Thwing Center. "African-American and Latino Stories" opens at 5 p.m. Friday, October 13 and continues through November 10. |
CLEVELAND -- Frank Diaz Escalet's leatherwork has clothed some of Rock and Rolls' biggest stage names, but his paintings of pulsating colors tell the joys and hardships of carving a new life for immigrants looking to fulfill dreams and ambitions in a new homeland.
Escalet, born in Puerto Rico, has documented immigrant's celebrations and back-breaking struggles in 30 lithographic prints that will go on display at Case Western Reserve University's Mather Gallery. In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, "African-American and Latino Stories" opens at 5 p.m. Friday, October 13 with a reception and continues through November 10. Hours are noon to 5 p.m. weekdays. The exhibit is free and open to the public.
Sylvia Purcupile from Manhattan Arts International describes the 70-year-old artist as a painter-storyteller: "Like Rockwell, he depicts his neighbors, friends, and associates. He portrays their hopes, dreams, and sorrows with compassionate insight."
Escalet describes his work as impressionistic and primitive. He works with wood, metal, paper, acrylics, oils, ink, water colors, leather, fabrics, and stone.
Escalet launched his artistic career after serving in the U.S. Air Force. His early work centered around works comprised of leather inlays. In an interview from his home and art studio in Kennebunk, Maine, he said he frequently heard about his work described as "something people had never seen before."
His leatherwork has donned the Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin and other rock stars. Commissions have come from Pablo Casal for his cello case and the Museum of Modern Art for seat covers for stone seating in the museum's sculpture garden. Art aficionados such as Ronald and Nancy Reagan, Jacques Cousteau, and Danny Kaye have acquired Escalet's artwork for their private collections.
Leaving leatherwork behind, the artist began painting snapshots of life. Instead of using an easel for his paintings, he paints on hardboard (three feet by four-feet in size) on his workbench, similar to the one he used for his leatherwork. Self-taught as an artist, he says he has developed his own painting style -- a form of stream of consciousness where he lets his hand freely glide over a pre-painting sketch, utilizing crinkles in the paper as an inspiration for the painting's direction.
At his most productive, he completes a new work ever four to six weeks, says his wife-agent Marjorie.
His career has been the subject of PBS documentaries -- "La Plaza" produced by WGBH; "Collages" and "Artist in Action" produced by the Orono, Maine station; and "Traveler on the Road" and "Visiting Frank Diaz Escalet" produced by W. D. Cleveland, for Cable "J" in New York.
Included in the works at the Mather Gallery will be some of the 135 lithograph prints from 15 years of Escalet's work. They were part of the World Peace Art Tour, a solo traveling exhibit that went through seven countries and 15 museums behind the former Iron Curtain from 1991-95.
Among the galleries where he has had one-man shows are the College of Holy Cross, Frydek-Mistek Museum in Moravia, University of Johnson and Wales, the National Gallery, Penn State University, State University of New York at Stoneybrook, University of Amherst, and Portland Museum of Art.
For information about "African-American and Latino Stories," call 368-2679, or visit http://www.gwi.net/~escalet for a sampling of his work.
![[Toolbar]](/pix/ribbon.gif){kind=small}