The canvases of Argentinian painter Francisco Diaz, better known by the pseudonym “Pastel,” tend to be a few stories larger than the average. His work inhabits the sides of buildings in places all over the world, from a remote village in Italy, to the heart of Scandinavia, to our own capital city of Baton Rouge.
Diaz’s murals are recognizable at once and typically depict towering, colorful flora juxtaposed against a dark, muted background. Simple and startling, his oeuvre is a reminder of our place in the natural world. “It’s a really native and reactional thing,” says Diaz. “I started to put them on a really big scale to glorify them and the idea of preserving the local things.”
Diaz describes his work as “urban acupuncture.” Just as the traditional Chinese practice can improve the way you feel via minute needles placed strategically over the body, art can be an “acupuncture for the city,” he says, because ephemeral actions can have continuous impact. He views his art as both an actor and reactor of the changing urban landscape, and a mechanism to organically improve public space in overlooked neighborhoods. The work is a critique of the role of government, ownership of collective space, and how people interact with the environment in metropolitan settings.
When planning a new project, Diaz researches the natural history of a place to illustrate its native foliage, and even finds inspiration in the various plants sprouting from gaps or cracks in the ground, because “what’s more native than that?”
“It’s a generic element that everybody can understand,” he adds, “and I think to talk about some social issues or aspects you don’t need to put aggressive elements on the painting,” says Diaz. “What makes the mural is not just the painting, it’s the mural and the environment—what’s all around it.”
Diaz first ventured into street art by experimenting with graffiti in his hometown of Buenos Aires. Trained as an architect, Diaz was interested in how design and urban planning can change the way people live. He sees art as a means for social change, one wall at a time. “You don’t need big master plans or big budgets to make a city better,” he says.
Francisco Diaz is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is represented by Ann Connelly Fine Art in Baton Rouge. His work has appeared worldwide, and during his residency in Baton Rouge this month, Diaz will complete three more murals in the city. pastelfd.com.ar.
In November, Diaz will be profiled on LPB’s Art Rocks, the weekly showcase of visual and performing arts hosted by Country Roads publisher James Fox-Smith. Tune in Friday, December 6, at 8:30 pm or Saturday, December 7, at 5:30 pm across the LPB network.
