Povera Lite, 2012
Six neon sculptures and nine 13 x 18 x 1" resin sculptures comprise the collaborative project between Alejandro Diaz and Dorfman+.
Alejandro Diaz is recognized for his recurrent use of everyday materials, his humor infused politics, and his ongoing involvement with art as a form of entertainment, public intervention, and free enterprise. Diaz began making and selling his now iconic cardboard signs on the streets of Manhattan in the late 90s and more recently translated them into a compelling series of colorful neons.
"My text-based works rely on quotations and selections of language that are meant to be economic and dialectic in quality: to lift, verbalize, and draw ideas from broad societal and linguistic frameworks of everyday languages."
Diaz's art refers to, and is rooted in various currents of the art world and art historical movements such as Arte Povera: an experimental and radical art movement of the late sixties attacking institutions of culture, industry, and government through art. The movement possessed an aesthetic of hunger and adversity that was executed through the use of everyday materials, economic forms, and political concepts.
"My text pieces are meant to be a Lite version of these strategies. I am interested in creating and drawing attention to existing social and linguistic dichotomies in my work by using phrases that are political yet campy, poetic yet pathetic, serious yet banal." This body of text drawings and signs can best be described as Povera Lite.
Quality, 2012
8" high orange neon letters, transformer, rheostat,
mounted on 39 x 10" clear acrylic panel,
Edition of 10
No Shoes, No Shirt, You’re Probably Rich, 2012
3¾" high red/blue neon letters, transformer,
mounted on 21¼ x 45" clear acrylic panel,
Edition of 5
IN THE FUTURE EVERYONE WILL BE FAMOUS FOR $15.00, 2012
4" high white neon letters, transformer,
mounted on 22 x 48" clear acrylic panel,
Edition of 5
More Dior Less WAR, 2012
4½" high red white/ blue neon letters, transformer,
mounted on 13 x 30" clear acrylic panel,
Edition of 10
HAPPINESS IS EXPENSIVE, 2011
4½" high white neon letters, transformer,
mounted on 7½ x 63" clear acrylic panel,
Edition of 5
Unknown Artists At Unheard of Prices!, 2012
13 x 18 x 1" hand-painted, polyurethane resin, wood, signed verso
World's Largest Coke Rock - 6 Miles, 2012
13 x 18 x 1" hand-painted, polyurethane resin, wood, signed verso
Looking for Nice Upper East Side Lady w/ Clean Elegant Apt. (MUST HAVE CABLE), 2012
13 x 18 x 1" hand-painted, polyurethane resin, wood, signed verso
Does this Sign Make Me look Fat?, 2012
13 x 18 x 1" hand-painted, polyurethane resin, wood, signed verso