Painter-‘storyteller’ exhibits at IU Kokomo Gallery
February 2, 2006
KOKOMO, Ind.—In artist Frank Diaz Escalet’s paintings, baseball great Jackie Robinson flies past dumbfounded opponents like Superman leaping from a skyscraper. Tearful angels comfort assassinated Archbishop Oscar Romero, and the lives of everyday people play out in vibrant impressionistic worlds. Like Norman Rockwell, Escalet tells stories with his paintbrush, portraying common “hopes, dreams, and sorrows with compassionate insight,” wrote Sylvia Purcupile for
Manhattan Arts International.
Indiana University Kokomo Art Gallery will host works by Frank Diaz Escalet February 19–March 12; an opening reception is scheduled 4–7 p.m. on Monday, February 20.
The Puerto Rican–born Escalet captures Latino and African American life through numerous mediums—wood, metal, paper, acrylic, oils, ink, watercolors, fabrics, and stone. His work has hung in the National Gallery of Art and the Smithsonian, and his 50-plus-year career has been the subject of five documentaries for the Public Broadcasting Service.
Particularly known for his work with leather, Escalet has created leather clothing for the Rolling Stones and Aretha Franklin, and a cello case for Pablo Casals.
Admission to all gallery exhibitions and events is free. Hours are Monday–Thursday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.; Wednesdays, until 8 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, noon–4 p.m. For more information, visit http://www.iuk.edu/gallery or call (765) 455-9523.
The exhibition is funded in part by grants from the City of Kokomo Community Arts Commission, the Tippecanoe Arts Federation, the Indiana Arts Commission, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
