Visual exploration of justice, faith, and transformation.
Rios’ paintings, woodcuts, and masks have been included in more than 500 exhibitions in the USA, ASIA, and Europe.
About
Diego Marcial Rios
Ancient myths and legends intermingle with today's issues to inspire the intricate art of Diego Marcial Rios. He creates explosions of color and texture in paintings, masks, woodcuts, and book illustrations. Inspired by Latin history including Aztec and Mayan symbols, Rios celebrates life, explores death, and confronts social and economic justice relevant today. His fanciful and provocative style is honored worldwide in museums including San Francisco's Legion of Honor. Rios works daily on new creations. After three decades, he continues to be a low profile but highly respected treasure in the art world.
Our Artwork
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"I created this mask using traditional art materials in the Mexican tradition. The face of the cat is richly detailed with many designs and colors. to reflect the complexity that seems to lurk beneath the surface of cats and people!
"One of my cats named Pam inspired this mask. I looked up at Pam’s Cat face one day and was stuck by her piercing green eyes."
"I was inspired to create this surreal vision two years after the birth of my daughter. I dreamed of a multi-dimensional female (mother like) figure along side my floating child. The mother and child iconography is very traditional in Spanish art. I was drawn to the color blue and green, colors often associated with creation and even transformation during the Renaissance and even early art from Europe.
"The female figure is very angelic and consists of plants, animals and even other angels. There are hundreds of rendered details in within the figure."
"This highly detailed watercolor painting was inspired by my vision of a dying soldier. I have incorporated imagery of life/death in the body of the soldier. The soldier is being lifted upward by the angel of Death. I used water color and gauche for this painting. I also used Prisma Color in areas of the painting." -- Diego Marcial Rios
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“Rios is unabashedly interested in politics, but his enormous allegories are more than what we usually mean by political art.”
— JERRY CULLUM, ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION
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“Diego Marcial Rios has built a decades-long career as both artist and activist creating politically charged paintings and resurrecting art forms rooted in indigenous Mexican cultural and spiritual traditions.”
— Perlita Dicochea, Center for Comparative Studies in Race & Ethnicity
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“Diego Marcial Rios follows in the footsteps of social-realist Mexican muralists like Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco.”
— Astrid Kane, The San Francisco Standard