Roberto Diago was born in Havana, was born into a family with a rich history in the visual arts. His grandfather, Roberto Diago, working in the 1930¿s and 40¿s began an exploration into African tradition and iconography that paved the way for a new path in Cuban art. Young Roberto however was not so easily pulled toward the world of art, not until the 1990¿s when he pursued his degree at the San Alejandro Academy of Art in Havana and he began his own artistic explorations.
Roberto Diago¿s work is a world apart from that of his grandfather, yet he did follow in his path to seek African roots. Roberto¿s search leads him to a much more critical and complex history of African diaspora, slavery, and the fight for rights that ensued. .
Diago began working on this theme by painting on burlap sacks of coffee imported to Cuba from Ghana. His graffiti-like images focus on memory lest the past of abuse to Africans be forgotten in the present. Much in the way that Jean-Michel Basquiat worked through encoded images, Diago focuses on his condition as a black man in a society of many races. His gestural works speak with a particularly dark humor that is at once critical and enlightening. The faces in his pieces are frequently masked, the human form contorted and disfigured.
As if the images in his pieces did not speak enough, there is the frequent presence of a graffiti text, inviting the viewer to remember the past and to confront the future: his metaphoric language and images allude to a universe far more complex. Diago carries on his shoulders his history, layering in his collages textures and ideas that focus artistically on the betterment of humanity in the future. Diago works with many media, layering canvas on canvas, cloth to paper, metal on wood. Even in his recent photographic ventures no material is left pure, and there is always his hand in the manipulation of the material along with the images.
Roberto Diago has been exhibiting since 1987 and among his shows are: "Paisajes" Orlon, France 1994; "Proyecto Mural" Sardinia, Italy 1995; "Pinturas de Roberto Diago" Centro de Arte 23 y 12, Havana 1996; "Lagrimas Negras" Center for Development Havana 1997; "Aller/Retour" Luneville, France 1998; "Roberto Diago, Contemporary Cuban Painter" Lyon, France 1999; "El Negro y El Puro" Open Space Gallery, Havana 2000; "My History is Your History" Cernuda Gallery, Miami 2001; "Recent Works" Artconsult Gallery, Panama 2002 Awards: 1995 National Honor for Contemporary Painting, National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana; 1999 Award by the Kikoine Foundation, France