Friends, associates remember San Antonio painter Ángel Rodríguez-Díaz as a creative powerhouse

"He was really a phenomenal technician," said Ruben C. Cordova, who curated a career-spanning retrospective of the creator's work at Centro de Artes in 2017."He could really render faces and details with extraordinary power. But I think also he made really uniquely original works by using self-portraiture as a vehicle for social criticism."

He used his portraiture works as a means for social commentary and often used himself as the main subject. As a gay man who lived through the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s, he created a series of paintings depicting nude figures living with HIV. That series was later exhibited as"The Full Monty" at FL!GHT Gallery in 2017. In the early 2000s, Rodríguez-Díaz began donning Mexican wrestler masks in his work, signaling his assimilation into Mexican American and San Antonio culture.

"He was very cognizant of artists who were habitual self-representers," Cordova said."I think Frida Kahlo was an important model in that regard."and Peter Paul Rubens. Cordova adds that although Rodríguez-Díaz produced modern art, he used techniques pioneered by the old masters — or at least gave the illusion that he was.

As a Puerto Rican man, Rodríguez-Díaz understood that he was a descendant of both indigenous and African peoples and he wanted to work that into his paintings, according to Cordova. "When I opened the gallery back in 2006, my first ever show included the work of Ángel Rodríguez-Díaz, he was part of that inaugural show," Ruiz-Healy said."I also took his work to one of the first art fairs of Latin American art in Miami."

She remembers Rodríguez-Díaz as patient, detail oriented, soft spoken, contemplative and vibrant. He was also a great salsa dancer. The"They are just so stunning," Esparza said."And, all together, they are just breathtaking."

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