This weekend's Gameday Poster was created by Carlos Diaz to embody the spirit of Saturday's Pride in Our City match. Posters will be available at The Den and kiosks inside Orlando City Stadium. The cost is $5 with all proceeds going to the Orlando City Foundation.
We spoke with Diaz about the poster below.
How Would you describe your art style?
I consider myself as a contemporary artist. My work have a lot of digital references but also is juxtaposed to the classic mediums. I’m a Gemini so I love constant changes. I can’t define or describe myself as one but several personalities at once. I guess that's reflected in my style. I’m constantly talking about social justice in my artwork. Always using iconography to say something about my reality of being an immigrant but also being part of the LGBT+ community. I love all mediums, I love color and expressionism but also love graphic, clean and crisp lines reference of pop art and I’ve been trying to consolidate all that in one space. There’s no better compliment for what I do than the word “Different” or Eccentric”.
Where can we see some of your other pieces?
I've been collaborating with different collectives around the city. That collective includes private or public collections. One of my favorites moments of this year was being selected to be the feature artist for Fuerza Fest hosted by the Hispanic Federation at the Shakespeare Repertory Theater with a show call “migratory Reality”. Also, my art will be the official artwork for the United States Conference on Aids this upcoming August, Planned parenthood’s Sex Education events and Q Latinx community events and several others non profit organizations around the city. I also collaborated with Start Talking Stop HIV campaign, City Arts Factory in the One Year Pulse mark Show and Sam Flax “What Has Changed?”. You can check my artwork in my facebook page carlosxdiazart.
Where are you from?
I’m Originally from Juncos, Puerto Rico. This is a traditional and humble place in the east of the island. I moved to Orlando Florida in 2014, I’ve been living here for 4 years now.
How did you get into art?
My mother was always looking for activities to keep me out of the streets when I was growing up. Where I come from there's a lot of violence issues to young kids, so when I was 11 years old I joined the program “Expresarte” by the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture and got a certification in Screen Printing. At that moment i fell in love with art and haven't stopped making it since then. Few years passed by and I was graduated from High School so I started my degree in Fine Arts (BFA) at the University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras Campus, I was graduated in 2011.
What does it means to you being able to design the poster for the Pride City Game?
I remember that game after the tragedy at the stadium when everyone was wearing rainbow, and to be honest I couldn't believe it. The whole stadium was divided in all color and people were so kind and wear them proudly. I remember I was in the Purple section. I knew Orlando was welcoming, loving and an open minded city, but to know that the whole Soccer stadium was in favor for equality and was able to create such an incredible space, was an experience I will never forget. That probably be one of the main reasons I’m so excited to collaborate with the team.
Another reason is my passion and compromise to work and create art for the community. It's not a secret that the Latinx community doesn't have the amount of representation we wish we have. However, as an artist, activist and community leader I feel passionate to incorporate elements to create that conversation and to have our voices exposed. As long as my artwork make an impact, create a conversation or make a smile, I'll be honor to be part of whoever program is to help those in need. And the fact that part of what’s recollected in the game is going directly to help the One Orlando Alliance, an organization that I love and I’m part of, is amazing and exciting.
