Diana Roig ‘The mind is like a richly woven tapestry in which the colors are distilled from experiences of the senses, and the design drawn from the convolutions of the intellect.’ (Carson McCullers, American writer, 1917-1967.)
McCullers’s famous line, uncannily, is near perfect in describing Diana’s most recent paintings and, we surmise, the way in which they arrive. Sinuous, linear arabesques of paint trails weave to and fro from multiple centers –there is not a central one– of concentrated zones, as if vine branches were interconnecting different flowers –and a palette of Hibiscus blue, Hydrangea pink, Orchid yellows, etc. These are abstract paintings, but it is very difficult to avoid their organic correspondences: roots, vines, branches, stamen, in sum forms always ‘growing’, dying down and growing up again. To return to McCullers, here natural growth corresponds to thought, memory, recollection and reminiscence, Diana’s own of course, but freely offered to others to compare. Join in and it is a rich exchange, all you could ask for and more. Unsurprisingly, these paintings grew up during an extended stay back in Argentina, and matured back home in Holland, perhaps rooted in both, as is Diana. We should add that these paintings were made after a long hiatus, painting set aside, in which her large drawings mapped out courses where the paintings could next move on: many of these, independently, are very fine works…as well as a firm declaration of her overall ambitions from the start ….
DIANA ROIG, 1982
MAR DEL PLATA, ARGENTINA
Education, Grants, Prices & Residencies.
2002 – 2007 Willem de Kooning Academie, Fine Arts.
2017 Research & Development Funding from the CBK Rotterdam.
2017 Nominated for the Royal Award for Modern Painting 2017.
2017 Winner of the Public’s Choice Royal Award for Modern Painting 2017.
2018 Artist in Residence; Vincent van Goghhuis, Zundert, The Netherlands.
2018 Artist in Residence; Kaus Australis, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
2017 Artist in Residence; Sacacha Centro de Arte, Peru.
COLLECTIONS
2020 Vermeer Foundation, privé collectie Boston USA
2020 Kunstcollectie: Shirley Ryan Ability Lab, Chicago, USA
2019 Kunstcollectie: Mohammed Alrumaizan, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
2019 Opgenomen in de kunstcollectie van het Ministerie van Buitendlandse Zaken.
Show’s & Participations (small selection)
2024 Vincent’s Boomwortels, Vincent van Gogh Huis, Zundert, NL
2023 GRAW, Rotterdam, NL
2022 Stedelijk Museum Breda, Vanwege Vincent, NL
2020 Schouwburgplein Rotterdam, NL
2019 Big Art, Het hem, Zaandam, NL
2019 Art Rotterdam, Cokkie Snoei, Rotterdam, NL
2019 hYpnOactiVemiRrorcAve, Cokkie Snoei, Rotterdam, NL
2018 A Circuit of Overthinking, A circus of IT Girls, Kunstverein, Hamburg, DE
2018 Nachtduik, Instituto Bueno Bista Centre for Contemporary Art , Curacao
2018 BoB is your uncle, Showhouse JayJay, Antwerp, BE
2018 In Melancholieverf, Vincent van Goghhuis, Zunder, NL
2018 Stoning the Romance, Kaus Australis, Rotterdam, NL
2017 Royal Award for Modern Painting, Paleis Amsterdam, NL
2017 The Other Art, Brooklyn Expo Centre, NEW YORK, USA
2017 A Sense Of Mysterious Sameness, Galerie Hommes, Rotterdam, NL
2016 Apocalypse, Hoboken, Rotterdam, NL
2016 The Painter/The Painting, Studio Pompstraat, Rotterdam, NL
2015 Radicals #1, Performance Night, Roodkapje Art Centre, Rotterdam, NL
2014 Pan Amsterdam Art Fair, Amsterdam, NL
2014 The incredible journey of the falling frogs, Roodkapje Art Centre, Rotterdam, NL
2014 Chew Crew, Transition Gallery, London, UK
2013 How One Thing In General Can Be Many Things In Particular, Singer Sweat Shop, Rotterdam, NL
2012 Now the dream is over, Blyth Gallery, London, UK
2011 S.A.G.S., The Woodmill, London. UK
2010 Duo Exhibition with Arie v Geest WTC, Rotterdam, NL
2007 Graduation Exhibition Willem de Kooning Academie Rotterdam, NL
2005 Artist Anonymous Teekengenootschap Pictura, Dordrecht, NL
2012 Diorama, Spartacus Chetwynd, De Appel, Amsterdam, NL
2011 A tax haven run by women, Spartacus Chetwynd, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, DK
2011 Don’t you wish your girlfriend was ..like me, Mette Sterre, TENT, Rotterdam, NL
2010 The African Bullfrog, Spartacus Chetwynd, van Abbenmuseum, Eindhoven, NL
- Publications:
- 2022 Kunstmagazine Muse, Avro Tros
- 2022 Vanwege Vincent, De geboortestreek van Van Gogh als inspiratie. WBOOKS.
- 2018 Witte Rook, Contemporary Art Platform.
- 2918 Trendbeheer.
- 2017 Koninklijke Prijs voor Vrije Schilderkunst.
- 2017 Art Maze Magazine.
- 2017 Mister Motley Art Magazine, March 26.
- 2016 Fresh Paint Magazine, issue 14.
- 2016 Fresh Paint Magazine, issue 13.
- 2015 Rotterdamse Kunstkalender.
- Commissioned Work:
- 2022 Commissioned to make an interpretation of Van Gogh’s “Tree Roots” for the exhibition “Vanwege Vincent” at the Stedelijk Museum Breda.
- 2015 Commissioned by Jacob J. Roosjens to paint an antique silver cup manufactured by C.G. Hallbergs in Stockholm in 1917 for the annual Dragon Gold regatta. This is a floating trophy that from this year onwards will be rewarded to the helmsman of the winning boat of the silver fleet.