The career of Rosario artist Diego Teijeiro has a lot to do with the title he gave for his first individual painting exhibition. With the drive and perseverance of the wind, in recent years, he has produced numerous works adopting watercolor as a medium, many of which are scattered around the world. In them he pours his diverse interests, paying special attention to the values, myths and ancestral traditions of Japanese culture.
“Very recently I managed to make my works present in each of the continents. I have more than fifty paintings distributed abroad, without going any further, Dojos in Qatar and Spain have my works hanging for the admiration of local martial artists. Likewise, I have done custom work for South Africa, Belgium, the United States, Germany, among other countries. Having achieved this, in some way I felt that I had to show my work in the city,” says Teijeiro in a conversation with Mirador Provincial.
With that premise as a horizon, he brought together part of his production – especially that which portrays the warriors of feudal Japan commonly known as samurai – in the exhibition “Winds of the East”. It was inaugurated on May 10 and will be available to visit during the remainder of the month from 5 to 9 p.m. in the facilities of the Swiss House of Rosario (San Juan 1550).
Teijeiro considers herself above all a self-taught artist with a “marked desire to continue learning.” She started painting with watercolors in 2018, so she feels that her “path is just beginning.” The artist usually has his stand at the Arts Market, a municipal event that is organized on the sidewalk of the former Customs House in Rosario.
“The term plastic artist is generally used and I, in truth, do not feel too comfortable with it. I understand that it is used as a way to differentiate it from other branches, but it does not represent me. I prefer a watercolorist or artist who paints with watercolors. The word plastic certainly doesn’t have much to do with what I do. What I use are watercolors, pencils, brushes, eraser, paper, even if you think about it, the word paper represents more to me than the word plastic.”
Regarding his method of work, he tells us “the technique is wet on wet, or it can also be splashed. People tend to get confused by this. Watercolor is not a technique, it is a medium, just like charcoal or oil paint. The best definition I can find then is that I am an artist who uses watercolor as a medium.”
The sample
-Who are your references in what you do?
-First of all, I want to clarify that I have developed most of my skills on my own. I learned English that way, and I also absorbed phrases and words from other languages with some ease. Something like this happened with programming and later with painting and the use of watercolors. For a few months I took some private classes, but in general I set out on my own, although it is true that I drew all my life.
As for the references, I couldn’t give specific names, I saw many samurai paintings with a very black and white style and quick brush strokes that resembled what I wanted to achieve. I started copying some works in order to establish the rhythm and practice, to finally achieve my own style. And this was taking frames, scenes or posters from samurai movies as a reference and giving them my imprint. Along that path, the films of Akira Kurosawa, one of the most famous Japanese film directors, and paintings by the actor Toshiro Mifune appeared.
I really love the Ukiyo-e artistic movement, with its bright colors, clear lines and asymmetrical compositions, which in some way installed that imaginary of the classic long geishas. I have reinterpreted some works by splashing backgrounds and things like that.
-How was the idea for the exhibition conceived?
-I have been painting with watercolors for about seven or eight years. I went to several exhibitions, always trying to support my artist friends, and I participated in two group shows, where a single work of mine shared the spotlight with those of other artists. Together with my wife, we came up with the idea of holding a private exhibition because beyond sales abroad, it is good to be able to show what one does locally. Lately what has been easier is to put together a virtual exhibition, but it is something that does not work for me, it is like throwing away the link of an image or web page. I am, in these types of things, somewhat more traditionalist, I like to feel, touch and stand in front of the work. A totally different experience than looking at a monitor.
So we spoke with the management of Casa Switzerland and they were very happy with the idea. I especially thank Guillermo, Federico and Giana, who gave me all their collaboration in carrying out the opening event. I am happy with the turnout, I am extremely lucky to have so many people supporting what I like to do. This is my first individual exhibition, I promise to improve and put all my effort into the next exhibition.
-What does the sample contain? What was your selection criteria?
-The selection criterion for the works that make up the exhibition has to do with the Japanese theme, generally samurai. Hence the name “Winds of the East”.
Likewise, there is a section “Other winds”, a fifth wall that contains four works unrelated to the topic where European settings and snow landscapes can be seen.
Some works are exhibited that are not based on anything more than my imagination. For example, in one of the paintings I imagine a battle between two samurai seen from above, a duel that raises the question of which of the two was triumphant. Also in another portrait a ronin jumping with two swords dressed as if he were a peasant. Both are crossed by my artistic style, as well as a painting that refers to a samurai on horseback (Kusunoki Masashige) and is based on a real statue located in the imperial palace of Japan. In the latter, the figure portrayed is as imposing as the red sun that accompanies it.
The largest percentage, however, refers to Kurosawa films such as “The Seven Samurai” (1954), “Yojimbo” (1961), “Sanjuro, the Invincible” (1962) and the famous, “Zatoichi, the Blind Swordsman” ( 1962).
Leaving just a little bit of the exclusive reminiscences of cinema, I have a painting based on the live action that they made of the famous “Rurouni Kenshin” manga. In addition, you can see three paintings of the character Jin Sakai from the video game “Ghost of Tsushima.” In the sample they are arranged next to each other.
CULTURE
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