Diana de Solares

Henrique Faria is pleased to present Homage to the Triangle, Diana de Solares’ second solo show at the gallery featuring her most recent body of work.

De Solares draws inspiration from her surroundings in Antigua, Guatemala and from the rich artistic heritage of Mesoamerica. As Rodrigo Gutierrez Viñuales explains in the exhibition text: “Architecture and space, geometry and structure have been the building blocks of our American rationality since our origins. Volcanoes andpyramids along the same sacred thread — two mountains, one made by nature and the other by the human hand. Josef Albers, pioneer of a geometric tradition that arose from the reinterpretation of pre-Columbian art, saw it decades ago. Albers “sees” the pyramids and re-creates them from above (but also looking downward, toward the underworld), This is one of the seeds of his “Homage to the Square”. Diana’s approach to volcanoes is similar, but she visualizes them at street level and classifies them as if they were “Homage to the Triangle,” though also moving toward the obscure, diving inside them, approaching their core, reaching a high symbolic density.”

Similarly, her exploration of volcanoes is not merely a depiction of their physical form, but also a metaphor for the creative process itself – a cycle of eruption and irruption.

Gutierrez Viñuales continues: “the final result is a diptych: two volcanoes that meet, linked by their vertices to create a common territory. The configuration of these diptychs is, in fact, the product of discovery, of the fusions of lines, triangles, spatial relations, and colors. The permanent concept of duality, of two worlds that meet, gives way to a rapprochement and encounter between the highbrow — which she encounters primarily through design and architecture magazines — and the popular, which she coexists with on a daily basis. She is absolutely immersed in both and they interest her at the same level.”

Standing before the art of Diana de Solares is not simply an act of visual observation. It's an invitation to enter an ongoing creative process. Her work begins in the silence of her studio and extends outward into her surroundings. By translating her experiences into art, she invites viewers to see the world in new ways, and find connections between nature, architecture, color and the legacy of ancient civilizations.

Diana de Solares (b. 1952, Ciudad de Guatemala) studied architecture at the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, and later economics at the Universidad Francisco Marroquín. She also trained independently with artists Juan de Dios González and Daniel Schafer. In 1996, she won the Glifo de Oro Prize at the X Bienal de Arte Paiz in Guatemala City. She also received a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation (Bellagio Center, Italy). In her works, comprised mainly of sculptures, she intends to make “provisional drawings in space.” She works primarily with objects and materials found in domestic environments and construction sites. Recent Solo Shows include 3 de Plycem, 2 de Clavos y 1 Tablón: Caos y Eros, Galería La Rebelde, Guatemala (2023); A Garden of One’s Own, Meta, Miami (2021): The Corrections, The 9.99 Gallery, Guatemala City (2014); Proyect Room – Presents 2: Alma Ruiz presents Diana de Solares, Josée Bienvenue Gallery, New York City (2014) En Tránsito, Sol del Río Arte Contemporáneo, Guatemala City (2013); and Prótesis, Piegatto Arte, Guatemala City (2013). Recent group shows include Dirty Geometry, Mana Contemporary, Miami (2014); The Eyes of the Skin, Bienal de Arte Paiz, Guatemala City (2014); Length x Width x Height, The 9.99 Gallery, Guatemala City (2014); Y… ¿entonces?, The 9.99 Gallery, Guatemala (2013); and Existir en un estado de peligrosa distracción, Bienal de Arte Paiz, Guatemala City (2010). She currently lives and works between Guatemala City and Antigua.